Most people just don't care....
This is part of American history and with the $$$ (Trillions) we piss away or give away here domestically and especially abroad we couldn't save her as a historical and educational museum???
Legendary aircraft carrier USS Saratoga to sail off to scrapyard in 1-cent deal
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/05/0...-cent-deal-with-texas-firm/?intcmp=latestnews
Most people just don't care....
This is part of American history and with the $$$ (Trillions) we piss away or give away here domestically and especially abroad we couldn't save her as a historical and educational museum???
Legendary aircraft carrier USS Saratoga to sail off to scrapyard in 1-cent deal
Alright do you want me to really get into it?
First off the Navy is not interested in saving the ship for history. The Navy, being the Navy, has always been more interested in the newest ship. Right now the Navy is decommissioning quite a few ships in order to get her budget in shape for the Zumwalt Class destroyer currently running at $3.5 billion per copy. Originally there were to be 32 ships but it has been dropped to 3. The $10 billion research and development costs are now spread across just those three ships. Next there is the Virginia Class of attack submarines. The plan was to acquire them through 2043 at two per year with a unit cost of $2 billion per copy. Next there are those pointless LCS aka: Littoral Combat Ships with no clear mission much less decent armament. One more, but not necessarily the last, is the Ford Class Carrier now being built. CVN-78 is now being fitted out after launching after which there is CVN-79 USS John F. Kennedy and CVN-80 USS Enterprise to be built at around $5+ billion but a better deal than a Zumwalt. Because of that the Navy has toyed with the idea of retiring a Nimitz before her service life, USS George Washington, as she is due for her $3+ billion RCOH refueling. So far the HASC has voted to fund the refueling yet there are still bad rumors of moving down from 11 to 8 carriers.
So where does that leave us. First, Sad Sara, is not the only ship going out to the scrap yard this summer. There are several others including three Neosho Class oilers out by me. They actually sold for an average of $900K. Built before the Sara and were crucial to the Fleet. I have been on all three and all are actually better shape than Sara. They are not glamor girls but their sailors are a dedicated group for sure as I was able to get three old timers onto their ship in 2010.
As you know Forrestal has been up for donation for a very long time and no one has been able to come up with a plan. Same was true of the Sara and she was in bad shape when decommissioned. Essentially rode very hard and put away wet. Same would be true of the Connie which is next. There are also the Indy, Ranger and Kitty Hawk sitting up in Bremerton with the Connie. The JFK may get lucky in Rhode Island if things go according to plane. However, I've seen their plan and it is a bunch of unobtainable ideas that all wannabe museum ships put out in their bid. Ranger has been rumored for Portland Oregon but that idea is not going anywhere once reality set in. When you get down to it there are only three cities in the U.S. that could support a Super Carrier. Two already have carriers, New York and San Diego, while the third is not interested as port land is now extremely valuable. That city is San Francisco.
Money, the big question. These things cost money and lots of it. These things need volunteers. Lots of "dedicated" volunteers rather than wannabes who can tell their neighbors they volunteer on a carrier. As an example, the DE USS Slater in Albany came down to New York to be dry docked. Clean, any holes repaired, doubler around the waterline to protect against ice and painting. Budget for this little ship is $1.2 million with only a scrappy bunch of volunteers all the way up to 90 years old. Imagine dry docking a museum carrier much less finding a dry dock for an Essex Class 820 ft. at waterline vs. 990 ft. for Forrestal. Next, where are the volunteers? Midway does so well because she is in the biggest Navy base on the West Coast. Lots of retired Flag officers and other assorted Navy vets. She probably pulls in $250-400K per month when many ships can only hope for $1 million a year if lucky. NAS North Island gives the museum space and help on the base for restoring planes. Here only real problem is the fact that the ship is hogging during low and high tides and that needs to be addressed. Intrepid cost $100 million a few years ago to put back into shape. She got $17 million from the Feds and don't think all the other museums didn't see that and wondered why her?
So with 5 carrier museums we do have plenty of examples. I'd rather save the USS Salem, which has had her berthing sold out from under her, than another carrier. The Salem, on the other hand, is the last 8 inch all gun heavy cruiser left in the world. One also has to worry about Yorktown and Lexington. The Lexington is actually flooded in her lower decks in order to keep her in place in the mud. Yorktown is in the mud and flooded in the lower decks probably due to corrosion. Lower decks being 6 and down. These two will eventually go to the scrapper one day or sink when they are pulled out. Intrepid and Midway are safe due to their locations. Hornet has finally gotten her financial house in order and with the uptick in tech is now doing lots of shows and parties. Only drawback is that people like to steal stuff from the ship if they can and one older security guy was injured when he caught someone trying to steal helmets. The thief threw security into a bulkhead and took off into the mob. If I had caught him he would not have been so lucky given that he was trying to steal from my Island. On June 1st I start my 16th year on the Hornet, and at 60, am the second youngest of the Ship Restoration Group vs. the Air Group. Once again lots fill out forms to volunteer and then never show up for training. Very little true dedication in the country nowadays.
