Posted on May 12, 2015
Final voyage: Navy pays one cent to scrap aircraft carrier
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Scrapping of Aircraft Carriers (What are your thoughts?)
What are your thoughts on this topic? My thoughts are why dismantle these beautiful pieces of military might when they could be put to better use by either retrofitting them with upgrades or even just recharging the power plants... Both in my opinion would be more cost effective then to sell them for a penny... Hate to see all these beautiful carriers be destroyed...
What are your thoughts on this topic? My thoughts are why dismantle these beautiful pieces of military might when they could be put to better use by either retrofitting them with upgrades or even just recharging the power plants... Both in my opinion would be more cost effective then to sell them for a penny... Hate to see all these beautiful carriers be destroyed...
Final voyage: Navy pays one cent to scrap aircraft carrier
Posted from foxnews.comPosted in these groups: 
Aircraft Carriers
Aircraft Carriers
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 12
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SrA (Join to see), perhaps CMDCM Gene Treants or PO1 (Join to see) can shed some light on the subject. I would think the cost is likely prohibitive compared to the use they could actually get from upgrading the ship.
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CMDCM Gene Treants
A ship, any ship can be a thing of beauty. However, it takes a lot of money to maintain her, and not just for paint and makeup. The other problem is Fatigue, and I am not just talking the feeling we get as we reach the end of the day. I am talking Metal Fatigue from fighting the Ocean on a daily basis.
I am very passionate about my ships and want to see them all live forever and fight forever, but I am a realist. After 30 years in Navy, my knees have very little useful life, but they can be replaced. After 20 to 40 years at sea the hull of a ship is warped and bent and it can be fatal to the ship and the crew. Microscopic cracks can open up, plates can warp and shift, cable runs may split, and a host of other unthinkable problems my happen. Many ships have a projected life of 20 or 30 years when built, some get an extended life through major overhauls, but very few (except Constitution), last more than 3 or 4 decades.
I built (precom crew of USS Anzio (CG-68)) a ship in the early 1990's and she is now OLD by some standards because she has been ridden hard over her life as a cruiser. The biggest problems with the AEGIS Cruisers (IMHO) was in the design to keep them under 10,000 tons and therefore not Battleships; they were built on Spruance-class destroyer hulls instead of redesigning them from the keel up. By using a design already in production, Navy saved money, but this hull never really has stood up to the added weight of the Cruisers. (But I digress.)
Ships have a service life. You can extend that life temporally by repairs and extended yard periods, but eventually the metal wears out. then you have to either make a museum or scrap them.
I am very passionate about my ships and want to see them all live forever and fight forever, but I am a realist. After 30 years in Navy, my knees have very little useful life, but they can be replaced. After 20 to 40 years at sea the hull of a ship is warped and bent and it can be fatal to the ship and the crew. Microscopic cracks can open up, plates can warp and shift, cable runs may split, and a host of other unthinkable problems my happen. Many ships have a projected life of 20 or 30 years when built, some get an extended life through major overhauls, but very few (except Constitution), last more than 3 or 4 decades.
I built (precom crew of USS Anzio (CG-68)) a ship in the early 1990's and she is now OLD by some standards because she has been ridden hard over her life as a cruiser. The biggest problems with the AEGIS Cruisers (IMHO) was in the design to keep them under 10,000 tons and therefore not Battleships; they were built on Spruance-class destroyer hulls instead of redesigning them from the keel up. By using a design already in production, Navy saved money, but this hull never really has stood up to the added weight of the Cruisers. (But I digress.)
Ships have a service life. You can extend that life temporally by repairs and extended yard periods, but eventually the metal wears out. then you have to either make a museum or scrap them.
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SrA (Join to see)
Thanks Master Chief.. Your insight is always helpful and a great history lesson on the Naval side of things...
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