Posted on 03/03/2012 9:42:21 AM PST by SmithL
SAN FRANCISCO -- In 2005, the USS America aircraft carrier was towed out to sea on her final voyage. Hundreds of miles off the Atlantic coast, U.S. Navy personnel then blasted the 40-year-old warship with missiles and bombs until it sank.
The massive Kitty-Hawk class carrier -- more than three football fields long -- came to rest in the briny depths about 300 nautical miles southeast of Norfolk, Va.
Target practice is now how the Navy gets rid of most of its old ships, an Associated Press review of Navy records for the past dozen years has found. And they wind up at the bottom of the ocean, bringing with them amounts of toxic waste that are only estimated.
Navy documents state that among the toxic substances left onboard the America were more than 500 pounds of PCBs or polychlorinated biphenyls, a chemical banned by the U.S. in 1979, in part because it is long-lasting and accumulates throughout the food chain. Disposing of the carrier that served in the Vietnam War, Desert Storm and Desert Shield cost more than $22 million.
In the past 12 years, records show the Navy has used missiles, torpedoes and large guns to sink 109 old, peeling and rusty U.S warships off the coasts of California, Hawaii, Florida and other states. During the same period, 64 ships were recycled at one of six approved domestic ship-breaking facilities.
The Navy says target practice on actual military ships serves an important national security function, allowing for live-fire exercises and study of "weapons lethality."
(Excerpt) Read more at contracostatimes.com ...
This happened in 2005. I wonder if concerns are being raised now, because Obama would rather give obsolete carriers to the Chinese government. Just one of those things that make you wonder...
My old ship (USS Conolly) was sunk this way. I watched the video on youtube, and it was kind of sad seeing her sink. It also makes me feel old, since I was a part of the Commissioning crew.
I have to agree with the greenies on this one. We shouldn’t sink these old ships. They should be taken apart and all of the pieces dumped on the front lawn of one of these ecologists. By having this old junk placed on their lawn, they can show the world how green they are. :)
They should just tow them and dump them on the cross-Bronx expressway. There wouldn’t be much left after a week.
Why the hell don’t they scrap those ships? They’re worth good money. They could manufacture a soluble foam target for a lot less.
True, but wouldn't it be something to see if you could? :)
True, but that wouldn't tell you much about how good your torps, missiles, bombs and shells would be in sinking ships that could still shoot back.
True, but that wouldn't tell you much about how good your torps, missiles, bombs and shells would be in sinking ships that could still shoot back.
It’s kind of a waste.
We should load these obsolete ships with greeniacs before the target practice.
Thanks SmithL.
They do take out the most valuable metals; copper and brass.
A lot of us old guys played with balls of mercury from a thermometer when we were kids in the 50s. Now it takes a 3-man HAZ-MAT team to deal with it.
Environmentalism has become the liberals substitute for religion.
LOL.
Someone should ask NYC where all those old subway cars went when they were retired.
Count me in with that group, it was fascinating to see the little silver ball move around like water on a greased surface. Remember pushing on it so it would break into two little balls that would come together again.
Why don’t they cut it up for scrap?
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Because the greenies screamed at all the pollution generated when cutting one up. This screaming caused the insurance companies to raise their premiums sky high making ship salvage unprofitable.
This is how it begins. First the Navy is banned from sinking old ships, then it is banned from sinking any ships. Then they ask why is there a Navy anyway if they can’t sink ships?
SARCHASM: The gulf between the maker of sarcastic wit and the person who just doesn’t get it.
Sinking these is absurd. My three neighbors close the Atlantic all do metal recycling and would be happy to go to get their hands on this, with lots of friends!
And many others who live in it.
Not only that, all the old prospectors used to use mercury to pick up the gold out of their pans because it would pick up the gold and leave the junk. Later they could retrieve the Gold. I remember my Uncle doing that when I was a kid(he was a miner before they shut the mines in CA down during WWII) and he panned for gold during the 50s, even though it was illegal(can you believe that sh**?)to own gold at that time thanks the communist a**hat FDR.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.