Puts things in perspective. When I reported aboard for duty in November of 1961 my ship had just hit 21 years of service, but with the new ones coming into the fleet we considered her old. But I heard they kept her going into the 1980s.
Generally speaking, the United States Navy has an excellent reputation for maintenance and upkeep, and to my knowledge has never had to resort to this, as our militarily impoverished neighbors to the North had to do (per the ‘Globe & Mail’):
“Newly released government records show that navy mechanics in Halifax had to scour the Internet and use eBay to find parts for one of its two supply ships.
But the briefing notes obtained by The Canadian Press, prepared for navy commander Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, show the technicians were fighting a losing battle to keep HMCS Preserver on duty.
The documents show many of the parts on the 45-year-old ship were “beyond acceptable limits” because corrosion issues had begun to compromise the vessel’s structural integrity.
National Defence said last year that both Preserver and its sister ship HMCS Protecteur – gutted by a dangerous at-sea fire – would be retired before replacement ships arrived.”