[Spktyr]

You would have to upgrade the ship to modern traffic, landing and takeoff systems to make the training worthwhile, which would be about as expensive as a new carrier. See above posts about how hard and expensive it currently is to keep the ship going let alone upgrade it.

USS Lexington (CV-16), built in 1942, was the training carrier until 1991 - but it was an oil-burner and carrier tech didn’t change all that much in that period. Forrestal (CV-59) briefly was used as a replacement but that ended in 1993. For the last two and a half decades, the Navy has just used whatever carrier happens to be in the area for carrier training and SNA quals. The Navy has demonstrated that they don’t need or want a dedicated training carrier.

[thescourged1]

Well, I figured since it was operating until 2012, it would still be modern enough for the job of a training ship. Wasn't the Lexington and Forrestal just anchored offshore for that duty? I haven't really been keeping up with the Navy's who's-who in the last decade or more, so I'm kind of behind. I'm just a dumb grunt...heh

I can definitely understand why nobody else is interested in her, that ship would nearly bankrupt most countries' defense budget.

[rlmorel]

I spent a week or two on the USS Lexington back in the 70’s, and it sucked.

It was one of the worst experiences I ever had on a ship...the ventilation wasn’t working, so it was hot as hell, and I think there was bunker fuel venting into the compartment...it made me sick...I felt nauseous, couldn’t sleep, I could taste it in my mouth.

Man, just the memory...I remember lying in that rack, tossing and turning, having bad dreams when I did fall asleep for short intervals.

I was never so happy to get off a ship.