ghost fleet

[85 gt kid]

For some reason I had the Paul F Foster on my brain when I said that :slap:

[desertswo]

I would have thought she would have been available for donation. Bummer.

Did they find out why the Connie was taking on water?

While taking on water is the most obvious, even likely, reason for her taking on a list like that, it isn't the only reason. They might have had some sort of heavy equipment positioned on the hangar deck for whatever reason (air compressors are always a favorite), and if some of that stuff broke loose in heavy seas, light loaded the way she is, an eight degree list isn't that hard to imagine.

[blidgepump]

Fastest of the fast ...

While taking on water is the most obvious, even likely, reason for her taking on a list like that, it isn't the only reason. They might have had some sort of heavy equipment positioned on the hangar deck for whatever reason (air compressors are always a favorite), and if some of that stuff broke loose in heavy seas, light loaded the way she is, an eight degree list isn't that hard to imagine.

Lightly loaded and rough swells created the imagine of a speed boat, and I remembered this passage about the "Connie".....

"One of the fastest ships in the Navy, as proven by her victory during a battle group race held in 1985, she was nicknamed "Connie" by her crew and officially as "America's Flagship"."

Which led to this recital...I was just a young lad when the fire in 1960 broke out... and now catching up on the construction tragedy.

"The USS Constellation was heavily damaged by fire while under construction on 19 December 1960 The carrier was in the final stages of construction at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York when the fire began.

The fire broke out when a forklift operating on the hangar deck accidentally pushed its cargo into a steel plate knocking it over. The plate then broke off the plug of a 500 gallon tank of diesel fuel which spilled from the container reaching the lower levels of the ship. The fuel was ignited perhaps by a cutting torch of a fitter, and then moved to a wooden scaffolding. The flames spread quickly filling the passageways of the ship with smoke. A Navy commander commented on the nature of the ships design at an inquiry, “Ships of this class are the most complex structures ever designed by man.

It took 17 hours for firefighters to extinguish the fire, some of whom had been “driven to the raw edge of exhaustion” after being called into service in the Park Slope air accident. The firefighters saved hundreds of lives without losing any of their own, however fifty shipyard workers perished.

[desertswo]

Lightly loaded and rough swells created the imagine of a speed boat, and I remembered this passage about the "Connie".....

"One of the fastest ships in the Navy, as proven by her victory during a battle group race held in 1985, she was nicknamed "Connie" by her crew and officially as "America's Flagship"."

Which led to this recital...I was just a young lad when the fire in 1960 broke out... and now catching up on the construction tragedy.

"The USS Constellation was heavily damaged by fire while under construction on 19 December 1960 The carrier was in the final stages of construction at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York when the fire began.

The fire broke out when a forklift operating on the hangar deck accidentally pushed its cargo into a steel plate knocking it over. The plate then broke off the plug of a 500 gallon tank of diesel fuel which spilled from the container reaching the lower levels of the ship. The fuel was ignited perhaps by a cutting torch of a fitter, and then moved to a wooden scaffolding. The flames spread quickly filling the passageways of the ship with smoke. A Navy commander commented on the nature of the ships design at an inquiry, “Ships of this class are the most complex structures ever designed by man.

It took 17 hours for firefighters to extinguish the fire, some of whom had been “driven to the raw edge of exhaustion” after being called into service in the Park Slope air accident. The firefighters saved hundreds of lives without losing any of their own, however fifty shipyard workers perished.

Roughly the forward third of the ship was euphemistically referred to as "the wavy navy," because the steel decks were warped from the heat of the fire. It made tiling the decks a pain in the ass because they'd always crack rather quickly. Getting water tight doors and hatches properly set was also a painful experience at times.

[Admiral Nelson]

The destroyer tenders YELLOWSTONE and SHENANDOAH have been sold to ESCO for about $1.8MM each. The last two CIMARRONs can't be far behind....

[Archdude]

MARAD has not updated their inventory since August. Number of ships keeps declining.

[Archdude]

Mine Countermeasure (MCM) Ship Dismantling

On November 3, 2014, NAVSEA awarded a $1.46M fixed price contract to Marine Group Boat Works of San Diego, CA for the dismantling of ex-AVENGER (MCM 1) and ex-DEFENDER (MCM 2). The contract will be administered by the Southwest Regional Maintenance Center.

[Archdude]

MARAD has not updated their inventory since August. Number of ships keeps declining.

The end of fiscal year 2013 has been posted. among the changes are:

NDRF Inventory Changes for the Month ending September 30, 2014
As of Date Ship Name Old New Field Changed Remarks

9/30/2014 COMET Historic Review Disposal NDRF Status Vessel cleared Historic Review 7/22/14

9/30/2014 EQUALITY STATE Retention Non-Retention NDRF Program Vessel downgraded 9/30/14

9/30/2014 CAPE LAMBERT Historic Review Disposal NDRF Status Vessel downgraded to Disposal 9/30/14

9/30/2014 CAPE LOBOS Historic Review Disposal NDRF Status Vessel downgraded to Disposal 9/30/14

9/30/2014 CAPE GIBSON Retention Non-Retention NDRF Program Vessel downgraded to Non-Retention 9/30/14

[ChrisV71]

It appears we missed Marad selling the Platte (AO-186) to Southern Recycling in Amelia, La on September 25, 2014 for $2,237,788. https://voa.marad.dot.gov/Solicitati...NAL SIGNED.pdf
She is already in Louisiana. We missed it because Marad titled the award as: "Amelia, La, 70340" on their VOA site... Nobody ever claimed Marad was bright...

[Admiral Nelson]

Interesting.

Here is a photo of SHENANDOAH leaving the James River.

YELLOWSTONE leaves / left today: Marinelink article.

[Ken_NJ]

What is so different about these vessels being sold for 1 or 2 or 3 million dollars for dismantling compared to the government giving the scrapper $1 to dismantle the Forrestal, Saratoga or JFK? None of them are nuclear powered. The scrapper will get the proceeds from scrapping the vessels whether they are a carrier or any other type of vessel, right? Seems like nothing goes back into the gov't coffers after spending all that money building and life extensions on the carriers.

[ChrisV71]

What is so different about these vessels being sold for 1 or 2 or 3 million dollars for dismantling compared to the government giving the scrapper $1 to dismantle the Forrestal, Saratoga or JFK? None of them are nuclear powered. The scrapper will get the proceeds from scrapping the vessels whether they are a carrier or any other type of vessel, right? Seems like nothing goes back into the gov't coffers after spending all that money building and life extensions on the carriers.

Yellowstone, Shenandoah and Platte shouldn't have any asbestos or PCBs due to being relatively new (post 1979), so the scrapper can afford to pay a bit more since they won't have the cost of remediating those hazards.

[ChrisV71]

YELLOWSTONE leaves / left today: Marinelink article.

Eileen McAllister just left Norfolk, heading to Brownsville.

EILEEN MCALLISTER - Tug: current position and details | IMO 7635957, MMSI 367180040, Callsign WDD6960 | Registered in USA - AIS Marine Traffic

[Admiral Nelson]

DLA has awarded six ships to ESCO for scrapping -- four frigates, the old destroyer FORREST SHERMAN, and the cruiser THOMAS S. GATES. Navsea News.

[Archdude]

The Constellation should reach Brownsville by Jan 14; quite a voyage!