Two never-finished Navy ships head to scrap heap

[MacGyver]

Two never-finished Navy ships head to scrap heap

By Scott Harper
The Virginian-Pilot
© July 15, 2011

They are the two ships no one wanted, almost constantly embroiled in one dispute or another for the past 25 years. The two Navy behemoths have never gone on a mission, were never even completed, yet they cost taxpayers at least $300 million.

[navynukedoc]

It is sad to think that they couldn't try to sell them to a private company or to a foreign Navy who would use them. Good one Washington, more money just peed away.

[Starkist]

It is sad to think that they couldn't try to sell them to a private company or to a foreign Navy who would use them. Good one Washington, more money just peed away.

Sounds like they tried to :


Able UK won title rights to the Isherwood and Eckford after completing the work and took ownership in June, said Kim Riddle, a spokeswoman for the Maritime Administration, a branch of the U.S. Transportation Department.

The theory was that Able UK would finish construction of the two oilers - they were 95 percent and 84 percent complete at the time - and sell them for big dollars to a NATO ally or another friendly country.

But because the oilers were single-hulled ships, instead of the modern double-hulled standard, "we concluded that recycling was the best option," said Peter Stephenson, Able UK's executive chairman, in a statement released Thursday.

[navynukedoc]

After said attempt and failure. Sorry for not being specific, tough kid!

[Starkist]

After said attempt and failure. Sorry for not being specific, tough kid!

:p   I'll read your mind next time

[HydroDave63]

It is sad to think that they couldn't try to sell them to a private company or to a foreign Navy who would use them. Good one Washington, more money just peed away.

As oilers, retrofitting an inner hull would make the limited fueling capacity unattractive. However, a retrofit with a gazillion Mk41 VLS modules woulda made for some cool "Arsenal Ships"  

Or another option would be to install the AN/TPY-2 X-Band radome up forward, and SM-3s in the VLS amidships! Instant low-cost solution to the Iranian IRBM problem!

[GNowakowski]

Project Azorian'esque conspiracies begin.

[HydroDave63]

Project Azorian'esque conspiracies begin.

Naaaah, something of that nature is best built from scratch due to reinforcement needed. On the other hand, having a nice USNS ship with roomy berthing for a crew of 40 or so, and the ability to call "Birds Away!!" a couple hundred times rocks! I do find myself 'almost' missing the acrid yet sweet smell of spent booster fuel, the roar that shakes one's innards for a fraction of a second, and that rising arc as the 1st stage shucks off, with the sustainer kicking in for a exoatmospheric fireworks display.

At least that's the experience of this grumpy old man that stood the watch....

[DLGN25]

Peanuts when compared to the Zumalt class destroyers.  13+ years, $10 billion, and we get 2 ships commissioned in 2015.

[Starkist]

Peanuts when compared to the Zumalt class destroyers.  13+ years, $10 billion, and we get 2 ships commissioned in 2015.

We just spent a few billion getting the enterprise goin again for one last deployment. The government is full of ridiculousness. 300 million? Peanuts.

[Gamecock]

We just spent  $655M getting ENTERPRISE going again for one last deployment.

I fixed your gross error 

We did not spend billions to fix the Big E.

Cheers,

GC

[drayer54]

We just spent a few billion getting the enterprise goin again for one last deployment. The government is full of ridiculousness. 300 million? Peanuts.

On April 19, 2010, Enterprise left the Northrop Grumman shipyard to conduct sea trials in preparation for return to the fleet. The total cost of refurbishing the carrier was $662 million, which was 46% over budget and took eight months longer than originally scheduled. The Navy stated that it planned to use the carrier for two six-month deployments before her scheduled decommissioning date in 2013.[

http://articles.dailypress.com/2010-04-20/news/dp-local_enterprise_0420apr20_1_uss-enterprise-first-nuclear-powered-carrier-aircraft-carrier

Still not a cheap deployment. A $200 dollar fog machine could have further delayed that deployment

[Starkist]

I fixed your gross error  

We did not spend billions to fix the Big E.

Cheers,

GC

Guess not, I have a few buddies on the "E", and  I was told like 2 billion, guess they exaggerated :p

Still... 660 million... thats a lot of hooch :p

That switch gear fire really set them back a lot.