House pushes Navy to buy more ships in 2006

CongressDaily ^ | June 22, 2005 | Megan Scully

[Red Badger]

What good do ships do if you don't have people to man them?..............I use the term "man" loosely when talking of men on ships........

[Montfort]

Let's see. Do we build navy ships to defend ourselves and project power to protect our interests, or do we build ships to spend money and thereby stimulate the economy? Hmmm.

BTW, the money we take from taxpayers to spend on one thing is money that could have been used to stimulate the econmy in other ways.

[Al B.]

FYI

By 2016, the total number of ships is expected dip to below 200, just as China's fleet surpasses the Navy's in sheer volume. Within five years, China's submarine fleet could be twice the size of the Navy's, according to American Shipbuilding Association statistics.

WTH is going on?

[ARCADIA]

is money that could have been used to stimulate the econmy in other ways.

Yeah...like by investing in more Chinese factories.

[highball]

Let's see. Do we build navy ships to defend ourselves and project power to protect our interests, or do we build ships to spend money and thereby stimulate the economy? Hmmm.

I think the answer to that is painfully obvious. And pathetic, as well.

It's not even about stimulating the economy. It's about protecting the domestic shipbuilding industry. A patriotic welfare program.

[Wristpin]

Does China even have a blue water navy? How many active duty billets does eliminating one of these ships pay for?

[A Balrog of Morgoth]

It's about protecting the domestic shipbuilding industry. A patriotic welfare program.

I'm not commenting on this particular shipbuilding bill. In general, we do need to maintain a certain number of viable shipbuilders.

You don't just conjure up the ability to build nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines, or advanced surface combatants, out of thin air.

It's not welfare, it's maintaining a strategic asset.

[Jeff Head]

Here's what's going on...

THE RISING SEA DRAGON IN ASIA

We better start a Reagan style buildup back to the 600 ship Navy IMHO.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

China with more submarines than the US ?

[Jeff Head]

At the rate they are building and acquiring new ones, compared to our own rate...in a few years, yes.

But there attack sub fleet will be a mix of a lot of modern diesel electric and a relative few nuclear attack subs, while ours are all nuclear attack subs.

[Wristpin]

They've purchased lot's of the old soviet diesels.

[biblewonk]

I smell pork.

[Tallguy]

WTH is going on?

Numbers are not the whole story when it comes to naval vessels. Tonnage is an equally important measure because a larger vessel tends to be a more capable vessel. The Soviet Navy at one time exceeded the US Navy in terms of numbers of ships, but no serious analyst would have said that they had a stronger fleet. The Soviets had a lot of little patrol boats & corvettes (ship types which would have been found in our Coast Guard, and so were not counted). We had over a dozen large CVA's, a category of ship for which the Soviets had no equivalent.

[Non-Sequitur]

We better start a Reagan style buildup back to the 600 ship Navy IMHO.

You've got half the shipyards you had during the Reagan years so even if such a buildup was justified it would take twice as long and cost 10 times as much. The money isn't there, nor is the manpower.

[Jeff Head]

What you say is true regarding the shipyards (to our shame IMHO)...but still, IMHO, gearing up to do it would be a lot cheaper than what's coming if we don't contain the CHinese in a similar fashion as how Reagan contained the Soviets.

It would be a lot more painful at this point...but less painful than what I believe is going to be the war we have to fight at a severe disadvantage from the outset precisely because of the shipbuilding reasons you cite.

As to the money...oh, we have more than enough. What we lack is the will to stop spending on some of the things that are of no use to us, and start spending in areas that will help preserve us..

But that's just my opinion.

[jpsb]

We stopped building ships here long ago. At one time, before our leader drank the free trade kool-aid, we were a major ship builder, but since it was cheaper to build ships in Asia we gave away our ship building industry. Now surprise surprise our Navy is having a dificult time building ships. Free trade kills.

[jpsb]

"WTH is going on?"

I have an idea, let's move more factories to China.

[jpsb]

The domestic shipbuilding industry died in the 70's, it was the first "free trade rocks" industry to be exported to Asia.

[B4Ranch]

"or do we build ships to spend money and thereby stimulate the economy? Hmmm."

The heavy sheet steel and trusses come from China. Whose economy are we building?