Posted on 12/27/2006 7:37:33 AM PST by libtoken
The US Navy has formally announced it currently plans to retire CV 67 Kennedy (plus some other ships) from its active ship registry by 30 Sep 2007. However, this could still change.
http://www.npc.navy.mil/NR/rdonlyres/B5AA3BD3-C4F0-4FAF-8850-8D26969E1CDB/0/NAV06373.txt
And how old is CVN-65? CORAL SEA and SARATOGA were obsolete steamers as they were the older 600PSI systems. The KITTY HAWK Class and JFK Class were 1200 PSI Conventional just like the nukes are.
The nuke advantage is an advantage that is solely based on fueling needs. Other than that they are going to see or should be seeing the same deployment cycles and yard periods as conventional. Be it a nuke or conventional it will need a three month stand down yard period after a six month deployment and the dry dock after 5 years. It's the Auxiliaries that require it. They will not withstand unlimited deployment any more than a conventional will. If you want the galley coppers replaced It still means cutting the hanger deck open. Replacing major pumps etc in the hole same thing.
The idea that a nuke can operate at sea indefinitely is a myth it's not gonna happen without some bad events coming as a result of it. We still need at least two conventional carriers for several reasons. One is training. You can have a seasoned snipe trained and qualified on a conventional in the time it takes a nuke to go through schools and still must qualify.
Another factor is repairs. I am a firm believer in the standards Rickover set for the Nuke Navy. That means rigid protocols in the way of maintenance must be met and specific repair procedures obeyed. You can band-aid a conventional system with no fear of radiation leaks if necessary. Both types have their advantages and disadvantages. Both however are steamers though. The difference is on the method of producing steam.
So the ship's motto would be : "We Have A Job To Blow Over!"
(mods may remove this comment if needed)
One thing most people fail to grasp is how complex modern warships are. Power plants, especially reactors, hardly ever break. But if you can't pump bilges or sanitary tanks, run ASW/AFW systems, ballast the ship, compress air, make potable water, generate electricity or run the AC plants, you can't sail.
And don't get me started on shipboard electronics. Fire Control, Communications and Sonar systems are purpose built to require depot maintenance for everything. When I got to my first boat, there wasn't anything in my radio shack that I couldn't troublshoot with a Huntron tracker, an o-scope and a Fluke. Now everything is hermetically sealed at the factory. At least a good A-ganger can rebuild a HiPAC if he has to.
Loose the A/C plants and the ship might as well stay in port. Only very primitive equipment would be functional. I could still line up the chillers and lite them off blindfolded :>}
So, you don't know a thing about the Navy or the way it operates. If you want to talk out your rear, you go ahead, it sounds like you are good at it.
By the way...I cannot think of a more honorable job than ferrying Marines around in whatever degree of comfort they can be provided with. If that were my sole function, I would do it to the best of my ability, because those men deserve it.
You're my hero of the day! I bet they were somewhat ticked at you.
Hey, don't forget the battery! The diesel has to run for 15-20 minutes before electrical load can be placed on the SSDG. Plus it needs air, which isn't always available when deep or if the COW forgets to open the head valve.
Wellll....
I suppose I'll grant you that one. 8<)
Life just sucks when the COW/DOW/OOD duck the snorkel....
We do not have a shortage of carriers. They have been swapped out one for one for years now. For example, when USS Reagan came into the fleet, she replaced USS Constellation.
USS Kennedy has been, in a sense, obsolete since she was built, or at least since USS Enterprise was built. All our carriers should be nuclear...heck, I wish there was a way to have nuclear escorts, too, but it's just too expensive.
The JFK is conventional, steam turbine powered. Diesels are aboard as backup emergency.
Huh? Why?
Maybe they could name a drydock after her, but that draws an ugly picture...
Its a runway and 80 airplanes.....I'd rather have it right now.
V-2-----VLA
Not really. First, no matter how big and versatile a ship is, it can only be in one place at a time. Second, comparing tonnage is an apples and oranges comparison. USS Wyoming (BB 32, launched in 1912) and her sisters displaced 26,000 tons; an Aegis cruiser (the largest surface warfare ships at this point other than the carriers) displaces only 9,530 tons and the later Nimitz class ships displace about ten times that fully loaded.
Comparing ships is a better measure because comparing tonnage of navies from such different technological eras is difficult. And Lord knows going from a near 600 ship Navy to 279 ships in less than twenty years is a bad deal no matter how capable the ships are.
Having enough SSN's gives you a similar capability. Just say you have an SSN in the area of crisis, and watch them spend a lot of time and energy trying to find it.
I know enough about the Department of the Navy son to know that the Marines are the only ones in the Department worth a piss in a pot. I have in my career worked in joint assignments. I have worked for Marine officers, swabbies, Army officers, and Air Force officers. The swabbies were the most unintelligent, self-centered buffoons on the planet. Perhaps that is why so few of the CoComs are commanded by swabbies today.
We need more Marines and fewer swabbies.
By the way, for the record, the "rightsizing" of the blue water boys is the result of the Defense Planning Guidance which I venture to say, you haven't read.
About all the Navy has been good for the last five years is ferrying, that is, acting as a taxi service for the Marines, the real DoN warfighters and taking blankets and tents to the tsunami victims a year or so ago. And when we discovered we needed the military to coordinate the New Orleans rescue and recovery efforts what admiral was put second in command? One from the coast guard. Guess we needed a real admiral.
If you think some enemy soldier is going to say "Oh good, it's only the Ford, I was afraid they might send the Reagan or Nimitz to obliterate me," you are nuts. I don't care if they name it the Good Ship Lollipop, it will carry an air wing bigger than the air force of most countires and will strike fear into any enemy with more than half a brain.
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