Posted on 08/23/2006 2:57:22 PM PDT by Paul Ross
All of what I mentioned in post 19 has happened during the current administration.
As I have said before I strongly believe it is the Globalists mentality that is driving this downsizing of our military past the point of no return.
We may have reached that point already.
I think it is a deliberate act on their part to force our country unto the global community.
They are putting us in the position where we have to belong to the Global community because we will no longer be able to act independently on our own to protect ourselves.
Sure we can level the world with our nuclear weapons as can Russia but like them we won't have the conventional forces to take Cuba or Mexico as Iraq has shown anyone who wants to look including and especially our enemies.
When I served you would have never seen the number of national guard troops in front line combat as you have seen or soldiers having to make two or three tours against a nothing country with a nothing military like Iraq.
The guard in my service time would have been moved up to the bases to replace and supply logistic support for the regular full time troops as needed.
We do not have the conventional forces nor sound military equipment,weapons,and supplies we need to fight the conventional battles we face now and in the future.
Nuclear weapons where never meant for first use but only as a deterrent and as a last desperate action when all hope is lost and this is as it has to be. We had better be able to dominate them on the conventional battlefield as well and that takes numbers in properly equipped troops,tanks planes ships with good depth on the bench as well as modern high technology.
No matter what else, to dominate, defeat and control an enemy on his ground you have to a uniform with a good soldier in it looking him in the eye ready to put a bullet in his head for him to get the proper message.
That hasn't changed. You don't win battles or wars by trying to talk to people who want you as a slave or dead or by letting them dictate the terms of battle.
You don't keep sending an army after small groups of terrorists, to fight fading shadows. You hold those goverments of the countries they are in responsible.
They can either control the people in their borders or answer for the consquences.
The only way to win over their minds or hearts is to put a bullet in enough of their hearts and minds so those that are left will want to change.
Yes, I know. There is a much longer list of other negative decisions by the Administration. Dismantlement of the MX Peace-keeper missile. Dismantlement of 150 Minuteman III missiles. Destruction of the silos. Cancellation in December 2001 of the Theater Ballistic Missile Defense, cancellation last year of the proven and deployable fixed-installation Theater High Energy Laser system, paring back drastically projected orders for Aegis SM-2 and SM-3 missiles for missile interception, as well as the supposed 200 land based interceptors...which he pared back to 28...and so on.
I remember when he first came in...the President refused to timely submit his defense budget in '01, stalling four months, and then released an totally inadequate budgetary requested ...which really only was based on inflation...not the needs to even begin to address what Clinton had done. His habits of slicing have continued. Cancellation of planned R&D for space-basing of Kinetic Interceptor components for NMD.
And Senator Jon Kyl could tell us in detail how the Administration is slighting budgetarily our needs to prepare for EMP threats.
It is truly frightening at the degree of scales over the eyes of this administration.
I had heard we had fallen down to 286 ships. But the new revised current total is in fact... only 281 ships in our fleet.
Bears repeating...and calling folks out on the carpet.
Admiral Mullen, the new USN CNO has stated that he needs an additional $14.1 billion more than Rumsfeld and Bush have approved for just a 313 fleet navy, which would be at "bare bones" for the forseeble threats in the near, if not immediate future.
What is really interesting is that President Bush came into office with what, about a 337 ship active naval fleet?
Major mistakes were make and are still being made as no one is learning from past mistakes and disasters. There seems to be an arrogance that it can't happen again to us. Sec of Def Dick Cheney for example ended production of the F-14. Ending production is one thing. Destroying the capabilities to produce again if needed in the future is quite another.
CNO Borda warned congress in 1993 the numbers on ships were getting too low. Of course Clinton /Aspin didn't listen either.
A clip of the page if it doesn't show is as follows:
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
This tabulation was compiled from such sources as the Navy Directory (issued at varying intervals to 1941); the Annual Reports of the Secretary of the Navy (issued annually to 1931); Comptroller of the Navy (NAVCOMPT) compilations; Department of the Navy (DON) 5-Year Program, Ships & Aircraft Supplemental Data Tables (SASDT); and records and compilations of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OP-802K, now N804J1D) Ship Management Information System (now Ship Management System), refined and edited with the assistance of the annual Naval Vessel Register.
For consistent historical comparison, Naval Reserve Force (NRF) and Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force (NFAF) ships, and Military Sealift Command (MSC) fleet support ships, are included in current and recent active totals. Figures, and conclusions drawn from them, would, otherwise, be historically inconsistent, and comparisons would be skewed.
From 1963 through 1974, former guided-missile frigates (DLG/DLGN) are counted under the categories (cruisers, destroyers) to which they were assigned on 30 June 1975: DLG 6 class Became DDG 37 class; DLG 16 class became CG 16 class; DLG 26 class became CG 26 class; DLGN 25, 35, 36 classes became CGN 25, 35, 36 classes .
TABLES:
1917-1923 | 1924-1930 | 1931-1937 | 1938-1944 | 1945-1951 | 1951-1957 |
1958-1964 | 1965-1971 | 1972-1978 | 1979-1985 | 1986-1992 | 1993-1999 | 2000-present
U.S. Navy Active Ship Force Levels, 1917-1923
Type | 4/6/17 | 11/11/18 | 7/1/19 | 7/1/20 | 7/1/21 | 7/1/22 | 7/1/23 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battleships | 37 | 39 | 36 | 26 | 22 | 19 | 18 |
Monitors, Coastal | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 2@ | - | - |
Carriers, Fleet | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Carriers, Escort | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Cruisers | 33 | 31 | 28 | 27 | 10 | 12 | 13 |
Destroyers | 66 | 110 | 161 | 189 | 68 (208rc ) | 103 | 103 |
Frigates | 17 | 17 | - | - | - | - | - |
Submarines | 44 | 80 | 91 | 58 | 69 (11rc) | 82 (7rc) | 69 (5rc) |
SSBNs* | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Command Ships | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Mine Warfare | - | 53 | 62 | 48 | 50 (8rc) | 36 | 38 |
Patrol | 42 | 350 | 65 | 45 | 59 (1rc) | 43 | 41 |
Amphibious | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Auxiliary | 96 | 87 | 304 | 173 | 104 | 83 | 82 |
Surface Warships | 160 | 204 | 230 | 243 | 102 | 134 | 134 |
Total Active | 342 | 774 | 752 | 567 | 384 (228rc) | 379 (7rc) | 365 (5rc) |
Events:
U.S. enters WWI 6 April 1917
Bolshevik Revolution begins 28 October (Old Style) 1917
WWI ends 11 November 1918
Washington Treaty in force 17 August 1923.
Notes:
@ = The last Coast Defense Monitor went out of commission in 1921.
* = Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine (nuclear powered).
rc = Reduced Commission: not included in "active" total.
The drop in ship numbers evident from 1920-21 is a post-WWI readjustment to a peacetime strength, with limited budgets and naval arms limitation.
U.S. Navy Active Ship Force Levels, 1924-1930
Type | 7/1/24 | 7/1/25 | 7/1/26 | 7/1/27 | 7/1/28 | 7/1/29 | 7/1/30 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battleships | 18 | 18 | 15(3rc) | 15(3rc) | 16(2rc) | 16(2rc) | 16(2rc) |
Carriers, Fleet | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Carriers, Escort | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Cruisers | 16 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 20 |
Destroyers | 103 | 105 | 106 | 106 | 106 | 103 | 103 |
Frigates | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Submarines | 77(3rc) | 76(3rc) | 80 | 77 | 77 | 80 | 81 |
SSBNs | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Command Ships | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Mine Warfare | 39 | 40 | 39 | 40 | 40 | 37 | 36 |
Patrol | 37 | 37 | 37 | 32 | 33 | 32 | 29 |
Amphibious | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Auxiliary | 84 | 73 | 71 | 69 | 68 | 68 | 68 |
Rigid Airships | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Total Active | 376 (3rc) | 370 (3rc) | 368 (3rc) | 357 (3rc) | 360 (2rc) | 356 (2rc) | 357 (3rc) |
Surface Warships | 137 | 141 | 139 | 137 | 138 | 135 | 139 |
Events:
Battleship modernization program in effect 1926-1934. London Treaty in force 31 December 1930.
Notes:
rc= Reduced Commission: not included in "active" total.
U.S. Navy Active Ship Force Levels, 1931-1937
Type | 7/1/31 | 7/1/32 | 7/1/33 | 7/1/34 | 4/1/35* | 7/1/36 | 9/1/37* |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battleships | 12(3rc) | 11(4rc) | 11(4rc) | 14(1rc) | 15 | 15 | 15 |
Carriers, Fleet | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3@ |
Carriers, Escort | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Cruisers | 20 | 19 | 20 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
Destroyers | 87^ | 102 | 101 | 102^^ | 104 | 106 | 111 |
Frigates | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Submarines | 56 | 55 | 55 | 54 | 52 | 49 | 52 |
SSBNs | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Command Ships | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Mine Warfare | 33 | 33 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 30 |
Patrol | 27(1rc) | 24 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 22 |
Amphibious | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Auxiliary | 69 | 65 | 68 | 71 | 71 | 73 | 75 |
Rigid Airships | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - |
Surface Warships | 119# | 132 | 132 | 140 | 144 | 147 | 153 |
Total Active | 308 (4rc) | 313 (4rc) | 311 (4rc) | 320 (1rc) | 320 | 322 | 335 |
Events:
Japan enters Manchuria 18 September 1931. Hitler to power 30 January 1933. Failure of the International Economic Conference to stabilize world currencies in July 1933 leads to growing instability. Vinson-Trammell Act, 27 March 1934, authorizes--though it does not fund--Navy construction to Treaty strength. Japan renounces Washington Treaty 29 December 1934, effective 31 December 1936. Germany renounces disarmament clauses of the Treaty of Versailles 16 March 1935. Spanish Civil War begins 18 July 1936. Japan begins large-scale military operations in China 7 July 1937.
Notes:
* Data for 1 July not available.
@ = CV-1 to AV-1 (auxiliary).
^ = London Treaty exchange of new DD for older types allowed.
^^ = New DD begin to appear.
# = Post-1921 low.
rc = Reduced Commission: not included in "active" total.
U.S. Navy Active Ship Force Levels, 1938-1944
Type | 6/30/38 | 6/30/39 | 6/30/40 | 12/7/41 | 12/31/42 | 12/31/43 | 12/31/44 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battleships | 15 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 21 | 23 |
Carriers, Fleet | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 19 | 25 |
Carriers, Escort | - | - | - | 1 | 12 | 35 | 65 |
Cruisers | 32 | 36 | 37 | 37 | 39 | 48 | 61 |
Destroyers | 112 | 127 | 185 | 171 | 224 | 332 | 367 |
Frigates | - | - | - | - | - | 234 | 376 |
Submarines | 54 | 58 | 64 | 112 | 133 | 172 | 230 |
SSBNs | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Command Ships | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Mine Warfare | 27 | 29 | 36 | 135 | 323 | 551 | 614 |
Patrol | 34 | 20 | 19 | 100 | 515 | 1050 | 1183 |
Amphibious | - | - | - | - | 121 | 673 | 2147 |
Auxiliary | 101 | 104 | 116 | 210 | 392 | 564 | 993 |
Surface Warships | 159 | 178 | 237 | 225 | 282 | 635 | 827 |
Total Active | 380 | 394 | 478 | 790 | 1782 | 3699 | 6084 |
Events:
WWII begins in Europe when Germany and the USSR invade Poland September 1939.
U.S. Navy Active Ship Force Levels, 1945-1950
Type | 8/14/45* | 6/30/46 | 6/30/47 | 6/30/48 | 6/30/49 | 6/30/50 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battleships | 23 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Carriers, Fleet | 28 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 11 |
Carriers, Escort | 71 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
Cruisers | 72 | 36 | 32 | 32 | 18 | 13 |
Destroyers | 377 | 145 | 138 | 134 | 143 | 137 |
Frigates | 361 | 35 | 24 | 12 | 12 | 10 |
Submarines | 232 | 85 | 80 | 74 | 79 | 72 |
SSBNs | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Command Ships | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Mine Warfare | 586 | 112 | 55 | 54 | 52 | 56 |
Patrol | 1204 | 119 | 74 | 50 | 50 | 33 |
Amphibious | 2547 | 275 | 107 | 86 | 60 | 79 |
Auxiliary | 1267 | 406 | 306 | 273 | 257 | 218 |
Surface Warships | 833 | 226 | 198 | 180 | 174 | 161 |
Total Active | 6768 | 1248 | 842 | 737 | 690 | 634 |
Events:
WWII in Europe ends 8 May 1945. V-J Day 14 August 1945 (15 August in western Pacific). Pacific War formally ends 2 September 1945. U.S.-USSR relations deteriorate 1945-1950. Chinese Civil War won by communists 1949. Korean War begins 25 June 1950.
Notes:
* = V-J Day.
The increase in fleet size after 1950 is due to the mobilization, begun after North Korea invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950.
U.S. Navy Active Ship Force Levels, 1951-1957
Type | 6/30/51 | 6/30/52 | 6/30/53 | 6/30/54 | 6/30/55 | 6/30/56 | 6/30/57 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battleships | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
Carriers, Fleet | 17 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 22 |
Carriers, Escort | 9 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 2 | - |
Cruisers | 15 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 16 |
Destroyers | 206 | 243 | 247 | 247 | 249 | 250 | 253 |
Frigates | 38 | 56 | 56 | 57 | 64 | 70 | 84 |
Submarines | 83 | 104 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 113 |
SSG/SSBNs | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Command Ships | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
Mine Warfare | 91 | 114 | 121 | 117 | 112 | 113 | 104 |
Patrol | 40 | 29 | 23 | 22 | 15 | 11 | 12 |
Amphibious | 208 | 189 | 226 | 223 | 175 | 139 | 134 |
Auxiliary | 269 | 309 | 287 | 288 | 262 | 236 | 224 |
Surface Warships | 262 | 322 | 326 | 326 | 333 | 339 | 355 |
Total Active | 980 | 1097 | 1122 | 1113 | 1030 | 973 | 967 |
Events:
Korean War Armistice signed 1953. Taiwan Straits patrol begins 1955.
U.S. Navy Active Ship Force Levels, 1958-1964
Type | 6/30/58 | 6/30/59 | 6/30/60 | 6/30/61 | 6/30/62 | 6/30/63 | 6/30/64 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battleships | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Carriers | 24 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 26 | 24 | 24 |
Cruisers | 15 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 18 | 24 |
Destroyers | 245 | 237 | 226 | 223 | 240 | 222 | 215 |
Frigates | 71 | 61 | 41 | 41 | 68 | 40 | 40 |
Submarines | 109 | 109 | 106 | 105 | 104 | 102 | 102 |
SSG/SSBNs | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 23 |
Command Ships | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Mine Warfare | 77 | 82 | 81 | 83 | 84 | 84 | 84 |
Patrol | 12 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | - | - |
Amphibious | 121 | 120 | 113 | 110 | 130 | 132 | 133 |
Auxiliary | 213 | 205 | 197 | 206 | 218 | 216 | 212 |
Surface Warships | 331 | 310 | 280 | 276 | 321 | 280 | 279 |
Total Active | 890 | 860 | 812 | 819 | 900 | 857 | 859 |
Events:
Lebanon landings 1958. Cuban quarantine October-December 1962. Tonkin Gulf incident 1964.
U.S. Navy Active Ship Force Levels, 1965-1971
Type | 6/30/65 | 6/30/66 | 6/30/67 | 6/30/68 | 6/30/69 | 6/30/70 | 6/30/71 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battleships | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | - |
Carriers | 25 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 19 |
Cruisers | 27 | 29 | 35 | 35 | 34 | 31 | 30 |
Destroyers | 221 | 217 | 216 | 219 | 201 | 155 | 152 |
Frigates | 39 | 42 | 46 | 50 | 43 | 47 | 61 |
Submarines | 104 | 104 | 105 | 105 | 100 | 103 | 100 |
SSG/SSBNs | 30 | 37 | 41 | 41 | 41 | 41 | 41 |
Command Ships | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - |
Mine Warfare | 84 | 84 | 83 | 84 | 74 | 64 | 59 |
Patrol | - | - | 3 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 17 |
Amphibious | 135 | 159 | 162 | 157 | 153 | 97 | 95 |
Auxiliary | 213 | 212 | 216 | 210 | 207 | 171 | 177 |
Surface Warships | 287 | 288 | 296 | 304* | 279 | 249 | 262 |
Total Active | 880 | 909 | 931 | 932 | 885 | 743 | 752 |
Events:
Carrier strikes on North Vietnam and Market Time Operations begin 1965. Sea Dragon amphibious operations 1966-1968.
Notes:
* = Vietnam era high.
Notes: The dramatic fall in ship numbers after 1968-1969 is due to the decision to limit the use of American military force in Vietnam and the decommissioning of many WWII-era ships.
U.S. Navy Active Ship Force Levels, 1972-1978
Type | 6/30/72 | 6/30/73 | 6/30/74 | 6/30/75 | 6/30/76 | 6/30/77 | 9/30/78 ^ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battleships | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Carriers | 17 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
Cruisers | 27 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 28 |
Destroyers | 132 | 139 | 119 | 102 | 99 | 92 | 95 |
Frigates | 66 | 71 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 65 |
Submarines | 94 | 84 | 73 | 75 | 74 | 77 | 81 |
SSBNs | 41 | 41 | 41 | 41 | 41 | 41 | 41 |
Command Ships | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Mine Warfare | 31 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
Patrol | 16 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 6 | 3 |
Amphibious | 77 | 65 | 65 | 64 | 65 | 65 | 67 |
Auxiliary | 153 | 148 | 135 | 123 | 116 | 114 | 113 |
Surface Warships | 225 | 239 | 211 | 193 | 189 | 182* | 188 |
Total Active | 654 | 641 | 587 | 559 | 536 | 523 | 531 |
Events:
Last U.S. forces withdraw from South Vietnam following the ceasefire 1973. South Vietnam falls to North Vietnamese communists 1975.
Notes:
^ = Beginning with FY 78, the fiscal year runs 1 October through 30 September.
* = Post-Vietnam low for surface warships.
U.S. Navy Active Ship Force Levels, 1979-1985
Type | 9/30/79 | 9/30/80 | 9/30/81 | 9/30/82 | 9/30/83 | 9/30/84 | 9/30/85 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battleships | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Carriers | 13 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
Cruisers | 28 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
Destroyers | 97 | 94 | 91 | 89 | 71 | 69 | 69 |
Frigates | 65 | 71 | 78 | 86 | 95 | 103 | 110 |
Submarines | 80 | 82 | 87 | 96 | 98 | 98 | 100 |
SSBNs | 41 | 40 | 34 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 37 |
Command Ships | - | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Mine Warfare | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
Patrol | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Amphibious | 67 | 63 | 61 | 61 | 59 | 57 | 58 |
Auxiliary | 114 | 110 | 101 | 117 | 103 | 120 | 121 |
Surface Warships | 190 | 191 | 196 | 202 | 195 | 203 | 211 |
Total Active | 533 | 530 | 521* | 555 | 533 | 557 | 571 |
Events:
Grenada operation 1983. Attempted peacekeeping in Lebanon 1983.
Notes:
* = Post-Vietnam War low (total active ships).
U.S. Navy Active Ship Force Levels, 1986-1992
Type | 9/30/86 | 9/30/87 | 9/30/88 | 9/30/89 | 9/30/90 | 9/30/91 | 9/30/92 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battleships | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | - |
Carriers | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 14 |
Cruisers | 32 | 36 | 38 | 40 | 43 | 47 | 49 |
Destroyers | 69 | 69 | 69 | 68 | 57 | 47 | 40 |
Frigates | 113 | 115 | 107 | 100 | 99 | 93 | 67 |
Submarines | 101 | 102 | 100 | 99 | 93 | 87 | 85 |
SSBNs | 39 | 37 | 37 | 36 | 33 | 34 | 30 |
Command Ships | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Mine Warfare | 21 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 16 |
Patrol | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Amphibious | 58 | 59 | 59 | 61 | 59 | 61 | 58 |
Auxiliary | 23 | 127 | 114 | 137 | 137 | 112 | 102 |
Surface Warships | 217 | 223^ | 217 | 212 | 203 | 188 | 156 |
Total Active | 583 | 594* | 573 | 592 | 570 | 529 | 471 |
Events:
Fall of the Berlin Wall and many East European communist governments, 1989-1990. Gulf mobilization and war, 1990-1991. Dissolution of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War, 1991.
Notes:
^= 1980s high for surface warships.
* = 1980s high for total active ships.
Notes: A rapid decline in force level is evident after the anticommunist revolutions in Eastern Europe and the collapse of the Soviet Union, 1989-1991.
U.S. Navy Active Ship Force Levels, 1993-1999
Type | 9/30/93 | 9/30/94 | 9/30/95 | 9/30/96 | 9/30/97 | 9/30/98 | 8/17/99 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battleships | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Carriers | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
Cruisers | 52 | 35 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 27 |
Destroyers | 37 | 41 | 47 | 51 | 56 | 50 | 52 |
Frigates | 59 | 51 | 49 | 43 | 42 | 38 | 37 |
Submarines | 88 | 88 | 83 | 79 | 73 | 65 | 58 |
SSBNs | 22 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
Command Ships | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Mine Warfare | 15 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 24 | 26 | 29 |
Patrol | 2 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
Amphibious | 52 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 40 | 40 |
Auxiliary | 110 | 94 | 80 | 67 | 52 | 62 | 62 |
Surface Warships | 148 | 127 | 128 | 125 | 128 | 117* | 116* |
Total Active | 454 | 404 | 392 | 377 | 365 | 357^ | 352^ |
Notes:
* = Low since 1931.
^ = Low since 1938.
Dates | 9/1/00 | 11/16/01 |
---|---|---|
Battleships | - | - |
Carriers | 12 | 12 |
Cruisers | 27 | 27 |
Destroyers | 54 | 54 |
Frigates | 35 | 35 |
Submarines | 56 | 54 |
SSBNs | 18 | 18 |
Mine Warfare | 27 | 27 |
Patrol | 13 | 13 |
Amphibious | 39 | 39 |
Auxiliary | 60 | 58 |
Surface Warships | 116 | 116 |
Total Active | 341 | 337 |
Events |
To clarify the ship numbers included in this table, the year 2000 entries include active commissioned ships, those in the Naval Reserve Force (NRF) and ships operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC). Row entries are self-explanatory, with the auxiliary category including combat logistic ships (such as oilers, ammunition, combat store ships), mobile logistics ships (such as submarine tenders) and support ships (such as command, salvage, tugs and research ships). Command ships have been subsumed into that category and the separate line entry removed.
23 January 2002
Word is the JFK is soon on it's way out due to problems & not to be replaced. The Kitty Hawk is likely gone as well. Our carrier fleet even with the building of the FORD will end up 9-10 by 2012 likely 9 at the rate we are going because the ENTERPRISE is older than what the JFK and AMERICA were. The only carrier left it's senior is KITTY HAWK as CONNIE was decommed. ENTERPRISE's age since delivery is 45 years and she is a nuke plant.
Bump. Agreed. And interesting that you mentioned this...
Sec of Def Dick Cheney for example ended production of the F-14. Ending production is one thing. Destroying the capabilities to produce again if needed in the future is quite another.
You likely know Cheney did more than simply end production. While SecDef...Cheney ordered destroyed in 1991 the titanium-casting "forms" for the F-14. These huge special forms had been custom-manufactured. Crucial to make the titanium-wing-boxes for the F-14 (and represented a huge R&D investment in their own right)... They were the key to ever building more F-14s or improved updated variants thereof...now all F-14s have to be retired due to extreme age and wear and tear. And I probably don't need to tell you that nothing either on our decks currently, in the works, or on any CAD/CAM station can do what they did.
Of course it isn't. Thanks for the blast from the past! It is important that we not lose perspective and accurate institutional memory.
It is what really separates those who are true conservatives [us old fogeys ]... from the phoneys.
So much needed money could have been saved and the greatest Naval Fighter Plane kept in service had the money simply went into future F-14 Avionics R&D. The airframe for what that plane did was the best design so far. Even a mouse trap can only be perfected so much in basic design.
Enterprise since its last, 1995(?)RCOH could go quite a while...supposedly a 22 year extension of life. Supposed to be retired 2013, and be replaced by CVN-78. We'll see.
It is likely that the Administration WANTS the Navy fleet of carriers to go down to 9 ships. Their old plans had Kitty Hawk to be decommissioned in 2008...I believe to be replaced ultimately by CVN-77.
They have also commissioned a study to justify a 9 ship carrier fleet... Have to see if I can dig that up.
But it and our capabilities allowed to fade into the sunset...
Tomcat Sunset Last Time, Baby! -
A major reunion is scheduled for 20-23 September 2006. The reunion will take place in Virginia Beach, VA and coincide with the transitioning of the last F-14 squadron (VF-31 Tomcatters). Click on the "Last Time, Baby image to access a new web site for details. An on-line resistration form to sign up for all the events is available at this site
The reactor may last that long but the other equipment? There's 4 air craft elevators, 6? electrical generators, the turbines, Thrust block, catapults, arresting gears, etc that may not hold up to it.
Nukes like the conventionals in the KITTY HAWK and JFK class are still steam driven. The difference is how the steam is generated. This means a 1200 PSI super heated steam piping system. One leak the size of a number 2 pencil lead can dismember or decapitate you and you will never know the leak is there. This is why it did not make one bit of sense to give the older carriers Ship Life Extension Program S.L.E.P. and not the newer ones. They ran the America till it blew up at Norfolk then ran it another cruise. The JFK is in as bad if not worse shape than AMERICA was. These two were younger than Enterprise. I think the administration like the DEM's is steering us into a multinational reliance defense posture. That IMO is not good at all. For any leader of this nation from any party or branch of government to place our national defense into such a position that we are completely alliance dependent which is where this is head I call it Tyranny.
The lighter-leaner-more lethal mindset has dominated the US military for the last 20+ years. While it has its positive points (why not do more with less, if you can?), it has evolved into a mantra that blinds people to its ill effects.
One such effect, from a political perspective, is that the fewer troops you have, the less of a constituency you have for defense. 50 years ago there was an enormous defense industry. 20 years ago, it had shrunken considerably, but was still huge. Now, it is relatively small and defense is an ever shrinking share of GDP. Yet even as it shrinks, you have people claiming that the smaller-than-ever share is intolerably large. And since fewer and fewer districts benefit from defense, it becomes ever harder to counter those voices.
The truth is that the downsizing of the military has become a vicious circle that shows no signs of slowing. Even the GWOT has failed to stem it. This does not bode well for our ability to fight in the future--no matter how capable our small force is. If you only have a few good men, you can't be everywhere at once. As we are finding out with Iran now.
No I sure didn't. Thanks for the heads up. One of the most awesome events I saw in my 4 years on the ship was an F-14 coming by flight-deck level at full speed. We were out on a dependents cruise and put on a family air show. I worked in AC&R {Air-conditioning & Refrigeration} and our shop got trouble calls for a week over that as it cleaned out the ventilation systems.
It puts temptation before nations that otherwise would think twice before engaging us in combat. Who's the happiest communist dictator in the world right now? The North Korean is.
Agreed. It is subversion. And a breach of all solemn oaths and fealty, and treason against God and country. These oaths were sworn to before us all, so help them God. The President's reads:
"I, _________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and I will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."
The requirement of "faithful execution" is clearly implicated in any willful non-feasance. And anything which consciously undermines the independence of the country, and the liberty of its citizens, which the Constitution was meant to protect, is an implicit attack upon that Constitution itself, and malfeasance against the "Duty to Preserve, Protect and Defend" it.
I've seen the Administration try to laugh off their willful, deliberate non-enforcement of existing border and alienage laws... To the extent they do these things deliberately (which is empirical undeniable), such mis, mal and nonfeasances are potentially impeachable offenses that represent betrayal of their oathe of office. They baldly simply pretend not to "get it."
And the happy circumstance for them is that they are immune from any such action...such as impeachment or prosecution or other crimes:
-- First because they are the party of the majority party. The GOP will never risk the huge debacle of having to discipline its own President...and it won't likely ever confront him no matter how blatant the misbehavior becomes...and
-- Second, the minority party, still powerful and able to intercede to block impeachments...is fully complicit and of substantially the same agenda.
So in a real crisis, in the beyond unlikely event if the GOP suddenly rediscovered that Country and Duty is more important than Party...they would be thwarted by the RATs...who would hold their noses and defend their lack of principles...and virtuously call it principle. And such futility makes the GOP cleaning house all the more improbably. This would take a degree of political courage...and integrity... we have not seen since Reagan.
So ends the Great Experiment then...in duplicitous betrayal by deceitful false friends, in tacit if unacknowledged collaboration with the debauched and openly wicked enemies who can brazenly conspire with impunity...and shameful cowardice by those who would be counted as true friends of the Republic...
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