PLAN Carrier Strike Group and Airwing

Jeff Head

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
Re: My trip to the US Navy Reserve Fleet in Bremerton, WA

bigstick61 said:
Too bad most of the reserve fleet is gone now. I went to the one in Philadelphia and saw Knox-class FFs, Spruance-class DDs, a Des Moines-class CA, and other warships. Almost all of them are gone now, either sunk or sent to the breakers. Even the Des Moines just got sent to the breakers. Most of what remains is planned for disposal. Another one I've been to is the MARAD facility in Suisun Bay. There are a couple of Belknaps there, some old frigate preceding the Knox-class, and an Iowa-class BB (the Iowa herself), along with some amphibious vessels, and of course, since it is a MARAD facility, dozens of merchant and auxiliary vessels. To the west at Mare Island there was and still is an Iwo Jima-class LPH. I've also seen the reserve vessels at Pearl.
Click to expand...
Well, of the 31 Spruance destroyers, only seven are left. The David R. Ray, DD-971, is one of these. Three of the others are slated to be sold, and the other four are waiting disposal. I hope they keep at least four in reserve.

Twenty have been sunk, four have been scrapped. Most of these vessels had anywhere from ten to sixteen years of service life left.

Those two FFG, FFG-12, and FFG-14 were slatred to be sold to Portugal last year, but they backed out and I believe they are still there in Bremerton too. The Vincennes is also still there. She was decommissioned with in 2005 with 14 years service life left.

Although you wouldn't think we would, we have already sunk one of the five AEGIS cruisers (the ones with the double arm launchers) that were decommissioned. The CG 50, Valley, Forge. She was decommissioned in 2004, with 15 years service life left, and then sunk off Hawaii in November 2006.

Here's a good site that keeps track of all US vessels, their decommissioning and all of the SINKEX that are going on:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
 
bigstick61

bigstick61

Junior Member
Re: My trip to the US Navy Reserve Fleet in Bremerton, WA

All those ships in that picture are still there, according to the NVR website. The Ray and the two FFGs are planned for disposal, but they have not decided how they will do this, which means they may still be around for awhile. The bulk of the OHPs were scrapped, sunk, or sold, though. It's really a shame, because the near-elimination of the reserve fleet combined with the decline of the US shipbuilding industry will mean we will be sorely lacking if we ever find ourselves in a major war, and we would have done it to ourselves.
 
bd popeye

bd popeye

The Last Jedi
VIP Professional
Re: My trip to the US Navy Reserve Fleet in Bremerton, WA

I agree 99.9% with the last few post. Jeff you made a bb boo. The David R Ray was DD-971 not 917...

Any way as I have mentioned before my son served on the now sunk CG-50. I visited that ship many times while he was on board in San Diego. It is hard to think that a ship in such absolute pristine condition now rest at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. What a waste of taxpayer money. Shameful. :mad:

Simply stated the USN is not being alloted enough money in their yearly budget to properly preserve ships in a reserve status.
 
Jeff Head

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
Re: My trip to the US Navy Reserve Fleet in Bremerton, WA

bd popeye said:
I agree 99.9% with the last few post. Jeff you made a bb boo. The David R Ray was DD-971 not 917...
Click to expand...
Yes, I knew that...and have it correctly numbered in the thread itself when I was there. But today, I just made a simple transposition typo when writing this latest, but have now, thanks to your keen eye, fixed it and corrected the prolemo...thankx!


bd popeye said:
Any way as I have mentioned before my son served on the now sunk CG-50. I visited that ship many times while he was on board in San Diego. It is hard to think that a ship in such absolute pristine condition now rest at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. What a waste of taxpayer money. Shameful. :mad:

Simply stated the USN is not being alloted enough money in their yearly budget to properly preserve ships in a reserve status.
Click to expand...
Agreed 100%. The USN needs to be allotted adequate funds to move the older reserve fleet units out while making way for the newer decommissioned vessels, like the Valley Forge. It is unbelievable that we would sink such a vessel...which still has so many years service life, and still would be considered by any other navy to be better than their top of the line vessels. Just like the Spruances.

Instead, the US Government seems to be intent on simply disposing of them all, old and new alike, and leaving essentially very few vessels in reserve. Very, very short sighted IMHO.
 
bigstick61

bigstick61

Junior Member
Re: My trip to the US Navy Reserve Fleet in Bremerton, WA

It was part of the newer defense policy, though. Part of the streamining, which held that the Navy doesn't need to be very big or have reserves, as in their mind it will principally used just to support operations against terrorism. Not good thinking, but that seems to have become the norm in regards to naval policy, unfortunately.
 
bd popeye

bd popeye

The Last Jedi
VIP Professional
Re: My trip to the US Navy Reserve Fleet in Bremerton, WA

The US Navy of which I served for 20 years should have in reserve ,as a minimum, the following surface combatants. I wish the US Congress would fork over the cash to do so.

4 CV's

2 LHA's(Tarawa Class)

18 Spruance class

5 Ticos (thats' how many the USN has retired)

4 AOE's

With that 4 CSG's (Carrier Strike Groups) & 2 ESG (Expeditionary Strike Groups) could be formed.

I omitted subs simply because I have limited knowledge about keeping a nuke ship in mothballs.
 
szbd

szbd

Junior Member
Re: My trip to the US Navy Reserve Fleet in Bremerton, WA

I think USN still has some nuclear cruisers in reserve? If so, I don't understand why USN keeps them but sunk a tico.
 
bigstick61

bigstick61

Junior Member
Re: My trip to the US Navy Reserve Fleet in Bremerton, WA

The Long Beach, sans her superstructure, is still afloat. The South Carolina is still in mothballs, although she's planned for disposal. There are a couple of Belknaps left which are planned for disposal as well. There is also a Knox FF and 4 Forrest Sherman DDs in mothballs, as well as two BBs. This includes ships stricken but still maintained by the US Navy. also, I believe there are still a cuple of Gearings mothballed and planned for disposal.

As for subs, there is a sub reserve fleet, but it is shrinking and has been shrinking for some time. There are over a dozen SSNs (LA-class and 1 Sturgeon-class, and 1 Nautilus-class) in reserve, along with two SSBNs. There are still a couple of conventional attack subs in mothballs as well.

Nuke ships are placed in Category Z Reserve.

The Reserve Categories are:

Category A: Ships which are in commission, in reserve (such as ships in the Naval Reserve force, which today includes 9 OHPs and some mine warfare vessels).

Category B: Ships which are decommissioned, but maintained in the highest level of readiness, and can be reactivated in 90-120 days, and have flooding and fire alarms installed, cathodic protection for the hull, and are sealed up and dehumidified, and maintained by naval personnel.

Category C: These ships are similar to category B ships, but they are not regularly maintained and sometimes have fewer protections against the elements. They also have lower readiness standards. All service craft which are maintained, and priority ships for sale to other countries are maintained in this category as well.

Category D: This includes ships stricken and disposed of to private entities which are still considered eligible for reactivation, and have to meet certain maintenance and readiness standards, as well as ships planned for similar fates or disposal to other government agencies in category X. It is partly a subcategory of category X.

Category L: Ships preserved well and retained for logistics purposes, such as being used as a source for spare parts for ships still in the fleet.

Category X: Ships which have been stricken, but are still in USN custody, including some category D ships. These ships are planned for disposal or sometimes have not had plans made for them. They are not maintained, and preservation systems come as is. They are fitted with alarms and a place to dock.

Category Z: All nuclear powered vessels, and associated ships such as sub tenders, whether to be disposed of or retained, are kept in this category, and preserved to category B or C standards, depending on their planned disposition, and also include nuclear vessels which are being recycled.
 
Tasman

Tasman

Junior Member
Re: My trip to the US Navy Reserve Fleet in Bremerton, WA

bd popeye said:
The US Navy of which I served for 20 years should have in reserve ,as a minimum, the following surface combatants. I wish the US Congress would fork over the cash to do so.

4 CV's

2 LHA's(Tarawa Class)

18 Spruance class

5 Ticos (thats' how many the USN has retired)

4 AOE's

With that 4 CSG's (Carrier Strike Groups) & 2 ESG (Expeditionary Strike Groups) could be formed.

I omitted subs simply because I have limited knowledge about keeping a nuke ship in mothballs.
Click to expand...

I have a wonderful vision in my head of what might have been if the 2 Tarawas, 2 of the Ticos and 4 of the Spruances (the 4 Kidd DDG variants were actually offered before being transferred to the ROCN) had been transferred to and were now spearheading the RAN! Unfortunately it will remain a dream.

BTW, the RAN seems to be following the same philosophy as the USN and is disposing of ships as soon as they are retired from active service. The OHP class FFG Canberra has already gone and Adelaide will soon join her as a dive wreck.


Cheers
 
Tasman

Tasman

Junior Member
Re: My trip to the US Navy Reserve Fleet in Bremerton, WA

bigstick61 said:
The Long Beach, sans her superstructure, is still afloat. The South Carolina is still in mothballs, although she's planned for disposal. There are a couple of Belknaps left which are planned for disposal as well. There is also a Knox FF and 4 Forrest Sherman DDs in mothballs, as well as two BBs. This includes ships stricken but still maintained by the US Navy. also, I believe there are still a cuple of Gearings mothballed and planned for disposal.

As for subs, there is a sub reserve fleet, but it is shrinking and has been shrinking for some time. There are over a dozen SSNs (LA-class and 1 Sturgeon-class, and 1 Nautilus-class) in reserve, along with two SSBNs. There are still a couple of conventional attack subs in mothballs as well.

Nuke ships are placed in Category Z Reserve.

The Reserve Categories are:

Category A: Ships which are in commission, in reserve (such as ships in the Naval Reserve force, which today includes 9 OHPs and some mine warfare vessels).

Category B: Ships which are decommissioned, but maintained in the highest level of readiness, and can be reactivated in 90-120 days, and have flooding and fire alarms installed, cathodic protection for the hull, and are sealed up and dehumidified, and maintained by naval personnel.

Category C: These ships are similar to category B ships, but they are not regularly maintained and sometimes have fewer protections against the elements. They also have lower readiness standards. All service craft which are maintained, and priority ships for sale to other countries are maintained in this category as well.

Category D: This includes ships stricken and disposed of to private entities which are still considered eligible for reactivation, and have to meet certain maintenance and readiness standards, as well as ships planned for similar fates or disposal to other government agencies in category X. It is partly a subcategory of category X.

Category L: Ships preserved well and retained for logistics purposes, such as being used as a source for spare parts for ships still in the fleet.

Category X: Ships which have been stricken, but are still in USN custody, including some category D ships. These ships are planned for disposal or sometimes have not had plans made for them. They are not maintained, and preservation systems come as is. They are fitted with alarms and a place to dock.

Category Z: All nuclear powered vessels, and associated ships such as sub tenders, whether to be disposed of or retained, are kept in this category, and preserved to category B or C standards, depending on their planned disposition, and also include nuclear vessels which are being recycled.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting this bigstick61. It is very interesting information, especially for a naval enthusiast from the island down under Downunder.

Could you (or Popeye or Jeff, et al) explain how the Naval Reserve Force is organised. I notice that you describe the ships as being in commission, in reserve. Does this mean that they have reserve crews assigned that periodically take them to sea?

Cheers
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top