Posted on 05/09/2014 9:57:38 AM PDT by US Navy Vet
The USS Saratoga — the legendary aircraft carrier that played a key role in the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam and Gulf wars and made Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi back down — is destined for dismantling after the Navy paid one penny to a Texas firm to recycle the 81,101-ton behemoth.
The once-mighty vessel is the second of three conventionally-powered carriers to set to sail to the scrapyard, following another one-cent deal involving the USS Forrestal in October. ESCO Marine, of Brownsville, will pay to tow, dismantle and recycle the ship, which was decommissioned in 1994 after more than 38 years of service. Efforts to spare the ship failed, as they did with the Forrestal last year.
“[It is] emotional in that we who served on ‘Sara’ feel that our ‘surrogate mother’ is passing from our lives,” Sammy King, secretary of the USS Saratoga Association, told FoxNews.com in an email. “We owe her a lot. We went aboard as ‘snot-nosed kids’ and left as ‘men.’ Some of us are very sad and some are very angry at the decision to scrap her.”
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
The probably idea here of the great obama is to get rid of all the conventional powered ships then declare nuke fueled vessels as treats to the oceans. I put nothing past the POS running the military now.
Amazing that Obama left the Navy an extra penny in its budget.
I am sure they could have sold it to China for double that. (/s)
She’d have made a good reef.
My one brother was on the Saratoga during part of the 2nd World war in the South Pacific. He served on the Enterprise also.
I wonder, when they break up a ship like this, especially one with a long and storied history, do they tend to make some parts available for auction or purchase? I’d bet lots of men who served on her would be interested. Given the number of years it saw service, and the number of folks it takes to crew a carrier, I’d imagine the number of potential buyers would be significant. Then there are also collectors of various types of militaria who might be interested as well.
I was in favor of naming our aircraft carriers after battles and traditional names, like Enterprise, Wasp, Saratoga and Lexington. I don’t like naming them after politicians. The first one was FDR.
My FIL was on that ship during Iwo Jima.
Ships have been scrapped under every government.
Very few have been preserved as monuments.
Fact is that ships like any machine have a given lifetime, shorter if they are used hard like carriers tend to be. Hulls and frames flex and are stressed, corrode, etc. Powerplants wear and deteriorate. Same goes for every system in them. 38 years in active service is a very long time.
The ultimate fate of nearly every ship is scrap, it is now as it has ever been.
This government is a POS, and has screwed up lots of important things, but this case is not obviously a screwup (unless there was monkey business in the contract awards, etc.) nor is it important (at least not to most people).
Too bad they won’t sell it for preservation like the USS Kid in Baton Rouge. That frigate is in immaculate shape - all done over time with volunteer help. It’s a great learning platform for kids and adults alike - plus it’s great for 4th of July celebrations.
As much of a militarist — and sentimentalist — as I am, I can understand how it’s impossible to preserve every ship that’s ever sailed. The costs are staggering and would do nothing but grow, year after year, until they consumed our entire budget and left no room for more modern vessels.
I sympathize with the sailors who are losing a part of their history, but it’s just evidence that the past can’t be bottled forever. The memories, however, can.
a penny seriously?
According to Wikipedia we have 10 Nimitz class carriers in service today and the new Ford class having 3 planned, with the first to sail in 2015.
If we were not doing that, I would be a lot more concerned.
Why don’t we sell this ship to India? I am sure they could make good use of her. India is our natural ally in an increasingly hostile region.
This is a very old ship. At some point every ship stops being useful and can’t be productively refurbished. All US administrations have scrapped ships.
When its time to go its time to go.
Don’t misunderstand, I wish there were a place for all of the big ships to have a home so to speak, but that takes a lot of $$’s.
The ship was commissioned in ‘56...served for 38 years. There comes a point where it’s no longer fiscally feasible to keep them in service, especially if we’re to launch ships like the USS Reagan and Ford.
I wish aircraft like the F117 could be kept around, but it’s the way of things when it comes to military technology and keeping an edge over your enemies.
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