USS Yancey (AKA-93) - Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Incident

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Incident

Toward the end of her career, Yancey made headlines. Yancey was at anchor near one stretch of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel near Norfolk on 21 January 1970. Driven by the winds in a snowy gale that gusted up to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h), Yancey dragged her anchors and allided with the bridge, knocking it out of service for several weeks. The Navy started a free shuttle service for commuters that normally used the route, using helicopters and LCUs. Fortunately, there were no vehicles on the bridge at the time of the allision, and no one was injured. Sources do not report on any damage to Yancey from the incident, but any damages suffered must have been easily repaired, because the ship deployed to the Mediterranean a few months later.

After a return to the United States in mid-1970, Yancey entered inactive status at Norfolk on 1 October of that year. The ship was decommissioned at Norfolk on 20 January 1971, and entered the James River berthing area of the National Defense Reserve Fleet. Yancey was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 January 1977. The vessel remained in the James River fleet until 16 August 1984 when she was withdrawn to be stripped of useful equipment by the U.S. Navy. She re-entered the fleet one year later, on 28 August 1985, but was withdrawn for the final time on 15 December 1989 to be prepared for sinking as an artificial reef.

In 1990, the former Yancey was sunk as an artificial reef off Morehead City, North Carolina, and rests on her starboard side at a depth of 160 feet (49 m).