USS America Battle Group, Indian Ocean, 1983. Photo by PH2 Bunge.
Posted on 04/18/2005 6:34:43 PM PDT by wjersey
The Navy will be towing the 40-year-old aircraft carrier, USS America, out of its berth at the old Navy Yard in Philadelphia Tuesday and taking it to its final duty station -- a secret location at sea.
Built in 1961, commissioned in 1965, the Kitty Hawk-class attack aircraft carrier saw duty around the world, including Vietnam in 1968, 1970 and 1972 and Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1991.
The ship was decommissioned in 1996.
On Tuesday, tug boats will begin backing the 1,048-foot-long aircraft carrier out of it narrow berth for its long last voyage.
Contrary to popular rumor, the USS America will not be towed out to sea to be used for target practice by the Navy, according to Navy spokesperson Pat Dolan.
The carrier will, however, be used as a weapons effect platform, she explained.
Specialized recording instruments have been installed on the ship to record the effects of things such as on-board explosions, underwater explosions and surface attacks against the ship, Dolan said.
The idea is to try to validate computer models that have been created for future aircraft carriers, she said.
Once the test data have been collected from the ship, the America will be scuttled, said Dolan.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
A proud old girl, still serving even as a research ship.
Many sailors next generation will live, from what she helps find out.
Contrary to popular rumor, the USS America will not be towed out to sea to be used for target practice by the Navy, according to Navy spokesperson Pat Dolan.
The carrier will, however, be used as a weapons effect platform, she explained.
PC, meet militaryspeak.
Why can't they just do their tests and then sell it for scrap?
Since I rarely read in the Inky, I'm kind of curious as to whether they mentioned it.
Took a boat tour around that harbour last year and saw this ship.
Served aboard with VF33 from Athens to Olongopo 1967 - 1968. Lots of memories, not all good (-:
They had articles last month, but not today - will check tomorrow.
Typical NAVY double speak ... we won't torpedo her, or bomb her out of existence ... we'll burn her, abuse her and ultimately sink her using other means. My suggestion ... scrap her and use the metal to build the next NAVY vessel ... but, hey ... that's far to practical.
Typical NAVY double speak ... we won't torpedo her, or bomb her out of existence ... we'll burn her, abuse her and ultimately sink her using other means. My suggestion ... scrap her and use the metal to build the next NAVY vessel ... but, hey ... that's far to practical.
I think because the tests will sink it.
I got my first traps aboard the America. She sure seemed big to an SNA flying a Buckeye.
Sell it cheap to the Hindus
And the winner is ........ dennisw!
Refit and sell it to India. USS America gets a second life and the Navy gets double the bang for the buck.
Thanks for the post. Hopefully as indicated in another replie, she will have served a final vital role in gaining new and usuable data in how to build next generation naval vessels.
At least the New Jersey sits proudly at her berth, and awes many a landlauber who visit her. Shame the America could not have been berthed as a museum somewhere along the Delaware. Such ships should be walked on by all Americans, kids walk her scrubbed down, steamed cleaned flight deck and just be held in awe at how magnificant a ship she is, be able to walk over and touch some NAM era Naval fighter aircraft, etc.. Sad she will see the bottom of some deep trench in the near future.
Given the value of scrap metal seems once again the gov't is wasting good money.
Can't sell her. First, she has already been stripped of anything valuable like brass and copper and and equipment and high quality steel that isn't too rusty. Second, when she was decommissioned in '96 she was immediately stricken because the short sighted politicians of 1961 decided in order to save a few bucks they would make her conventionally powered AND they would authorize the use of lower grade steel in her hull than was used in previous and subsequent ships.
There are several carriers in the fleet that are as old or older than the America and they aren't in nearly as bad shape.
"Contrary to popular rumor, the USS America will not be towed out to sea to be used for target practice by the Navy, according to Navy spokesperson Pat Dolan.
The carrier will, however, be used as a weapons effect platform, she explained.
PC, meet militaryspeak. "
Why the confusion or disdain about precise language ? Cruisers and destroyers won't stand off and randomly pound her with guns and rockets. Naval engineers and demolitions experts will set charges at precalculated locations to observe, measure, and record the real-world strengths and weaknesses of the US carrier design. That's the difference between "target practice" and "weapons effect" so whats the problem ?
Testing to destruction isn't an unusual engineering technique. If it helps make our next generation of carriers better I'm all for it.
Not true...it's not PC speak at all. Target practice and testing explosive impact on a ship are completely different things.
Target practice implies that people firing bombs, torpedoes, or rockets are practicing their aiming ability to find out whether they can "shoot straight". The America will be used for something entirely different. In effect, the Navy wants to find out what happens when a torpedo or bomb or rocket hits the ship in order to determine what damage is caused, thereby enabling them to design safer, more battle hardened ships in the future. For all we know, the munitions will be fired at point blank range, something that would not be construed as target practice.
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