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Old 02-15-2006, 21:46 PM   #17 (permalink)
RustyBattleship
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Join Date: 01-12-06
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gunnut
So what determines how much life a warship gets?

And what how does SLEP add years to a hull?
Better cathodic protection to start off with. Missouri, Wisconsin and Iowa have the latest and greatest but New Jersey still uses passive zinc anodes.

Not extending dry dock availabilities beyond four years so hull can be sandblasted, pits welded up, rivets tightened or welded and completely painted with the latest anti-fouling paint.

Basically it's setting a specific schedule of hull maintenance and repair and sticking to it. That was New Jersey's problem in '87. She only had a 3 year cathodic protection system on her but was kept at sea for 5 years.
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