Its sad too see those Fleet Boats go...but they're nearly 70 years old...way beyond their useful life. with that much metal fatigue i'm guessing its dangerous to go much below periscope depth!

It is sad to see ships come to the end of their lives and being cut up for scrap. The Australian navy has made it a policy of late to offer retired ships as artifical reefs to any community who wants one. It has gone well, except for one or two occasions, and there is usualy a fight to see who gets one!

It is also a more honourable way for a ship to go.

looks like the RN some of them pics all laid up due to budget cuts.

I need to upload my photos of Bremerton. I've got some great CVN photos.

Four month short of two year old thread. :hmmm:

BRAAAAINZ!

:O:

This would be appropriate for this thread:

Old Ironsides By Oliver Wendell Holmes

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon’s roar;—
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more!

Her deck, once red with heroes’ blood
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o’er the flood
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor’s tread,
Or know the conquered knee;—
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!

O, better that her shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every thread-bare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,—
The lightning and the gale!

I wonder how much it costs to maintain one of these ships (non-sailing/ static)? The USS Ranger? is coming to Ore-gone at some point, but I don't know the timeline.:hmmm:

Navies: How to go from superpower back to third world status in just a few expensive steps. :D

:har:

You mean LCS, DDG-1000 and F-35? :D