That was part of the reason that Ranger was kept in reserve as long as she was. But ships rot, even steel ones. Machinery gets way out of date, and must be maintained at certain minimal levels just so that they can be brought back into working condition in a reasonable period of time.
Then you have the physical limitations of the design itself. Catapaults that can’t launch the heaviest of modern aircraft. Arresting wire systems that have the similar problems and so forth.
Finally, these ships get scavanged for parts to keep their sisters in a higher state of readiness. So after a decade or so in reserve, they are little more than hulls.
What u say is true but machine and engines are so easy to get going and turn over.
With pieces and parts as large as they are on a Carrier, just Gravity will degrade the system ... you actually have to see how huge some of the components are to believe it. The shafts “MUST” be turned or gravity will bend them.
One of the things that I love about my Military is that we have affection for our Weapon / Home. On an Aircraft Carrier we even acknowledge the Air Wing when they come to visit /stay with us.
TT
Thank you. Yes I can understand that there can be reasons to scrap a ship.
I just thought that some of them could be useful, if no longer in front line defense situations, then in back field or non-military applications.
but anyway i was just trying to make a general statement and I do not know about the specific situation with the Ranger ...
it may have been ready for melting down.
I had a car with 318000 miles still running just FINE and I planned to keep it as long as it was safe. But some doped up freak ran a red light and smashed it to smithereens.