Sunken carrier reels in the divers (3/4ページ)

"A lot of people want to be the first to do anything," said Mike Giles, owner of Mike's Dive Center.

Marine life - including amberjack, octopi and barracudas - is increasing around the Oriskany. But most divers come mainly to see the "Mighty O," which played roles in both the Korea and Vietnam wars.

The carrier is perhaps best known as the launch site of presidential hopeful John McCain's ill-fated flight in 1967 when his A4E "Skyhawk" was shot down, leading to his capture and five-year imprisonment in North Vietnam.

History aside, the carrier is impressive. At 888 feet, it is nearly three football fields long - longer than the Titanic - and juts more than 14 stories up from the ocean floor.

Dive instructor John Landress said he has dived around the carrier 60 times and has "only seen about an eighteenth of wreck."

The upper reaches are accessible to recreational divers, and the deeper portions of the wreck are good training grounds for "technical divers" with deep-water equipment and experience.

The carrier even was the site of an underwater wedding last year.