The ship my step son was assigned to was put into dock for like 2 years for maintenance work. I didn't ask him, but I would imagine this entailed upgrades to weapons systems and the like.

(10-10-2012 03:23 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(10-10-2012 03:14 PM)Redwingtom Wrote:  So, your 'fact' that 'nobody keeps a ship on the water for 36 years' isn't a 'fact' then?

WTF are you talking about?

Apparently your short memory!

Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:To maintain a 300 ship navy on 8.5 ships means retaining ships in service for 36 years. Nobody keeps warships that long.

Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:And I haven't seen anything where anyone at the Pentagon has commented on how long they can keep a ship on the water.

It's very possible. Having a ship at the shipyard is not an easy job. I spent several months in a shipyard retrofitting a ship and it was not an enjoyable experience. I mean it was fun when we weren't at work.

BTW. If the Navy were to begin building 14 ships a year, pending on the shipyards, it could employ thousands of Union workers. We're talking welders, carpenters, electricians, crane operators, etc. We're not even jumping into regular laborers to be helpers or clean up. Possibly work going on 24/7 every day but Christmas.

But f that noise right?

(10-10-2012 03:25 PM)Redwingtom Wrote:  

(10-10-2012 03:23 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  [quote='Redwingtom' pid='8371732' dateline='1349900083']
So, your 'fact' that 'nobody keeps a ship on the water for 36 years' isn't a 'fact' then?

WTF are you talking about?

Quote:Apparently your short memory!

Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:To maintain a 300 ship navy on 8.5 ships means retaining ships in service for 36 years. Nobody keeps warships that long.

What is a fact is that I didn't say the quoted words.

Maintaining 300 ships on 8.5 per year means keeping ships in service for an AVERAGE of 36 years. I thought that was clear from the way I derived the number. There are some ships that are 36 years old that are still in service, but on average they don't last that long. The Nimitz is 37 and that class was designed for a 50-year life. But that's the exception. Destroyers and smaller combatants have shorter lives, and there are many more of them, so they're going to pull the average down.

There are some third world navies whose ships may average 36 years in service or longer. They are generally western ships that served 20 years or so in the western navies and were then transferred as obsolete. They can perform the functions required of a third world coastal navy, but are no longer suitable for blue-water service. Unless you are contemplating that the US Navy be converted to a Coast Guard, those cases would not be relevant to this discussion.

Right now, our oldest cruiser is Bunker Hill, which is 26, our oldest destroyer is Arleigh Burke which is 21, our oldest frigate is Underwood which is 29, our oldest submarine is Bremerton which is 31. Nimitz is 37 but as noted that class was built to last 50 and Enterprise is due to retire at 51 next year. But the majority of the combat fleet is nowhere close to 36.