US Navy Super Carrier Fate after decommissioning

So what is and/or will be fate of the nine decommissioned US Navy super carriers?

Since this thread will deal with ships that are also initially part of the US Navy Reserve fleet, I will post and keep it in the World Military Forces thread. There has been a lot of interest about these ships, and so a thread regarding them is in order.

Let's start. I will list them in order:
USS Forrestal, CV-59, was sold to All Star Metals for scrap and broken up in Brownsville, TX in 2014.
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USS Saratoga, CV-60, was sold to ESCO Marine to be scrapped in Brownsville, TX in 2014. She departed Naval Station Newport, Pier 2 in August 2014 headed for the scrap yards.
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USS Ranger, CV-61, was sold to International Shipbuilding to scrap in Brownsville, TX. She departed Bremerton in March 2015, and is currently en route around Cape Horn in South America.
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USS Independence, CV-62, had also been sold to International Shipbuilding to be scrapped in Brownsville, TX. She will leave Bremerton after Ranger arrives in Brownsville.

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USS Kitty Hawk, CV-63, which was decommissioned in 2009, is currently the only Carrier which is a part of the Active US Navy Ready Reserve. She will remain in that status until the new USS Ford, CVN-78 is commissioned into the US Navy.
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USS Constellation, CV-64, was sold for scrapping and towed around Cape Horn South America. She arrived in Brownsville in January 2015 and is currently being broken up.
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USS Enterprise, CVN-65, was decommissioned in December 2012 and is currently being dismantled to remove her nuclear reactor core. Once her nuclear fuel is removed, she will be prepared for open ocean tow to Bremerton, Washington. There, the remaining parts associated with the reactor plant (reactor compartments and associated piping) will be removed and shipped to Hanford for disposal. The final pieces of hulk will probably be scrapped by 2025

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USS America, CV-66 was sunk as a part of a SINKEX in May 2005

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USS John F. Kennedy was put on donation hold in 2010. Rhode Island Aviation Hall of fame passed Phase II of the US Navy donation program and is now seeking the same berth at Pier 2 of Naval Station Newport where the Saratoga was moored for several years.

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Over the years, more US carriers will be decommissioned and ultimately disposed of.

All of the future carriers will be nuclear powered aircraft carriers. The current decommissioning and disposal of the USS Enterprise, CVN-65, is a critical learning experience for the US Navy. From it, they will learn and develop the policies and procedures for disposing of the Nimitz class over the next several decades.

It is possible that one of those carriers could be turned into a museum ship...but it is also very difficult because dismantling the ship to get at the nuclear reactors destroys a lot of what would other wise contribute to the museum ship itself.

For me personally, if any one of them should be made into such a ship...it should be the first, the USS Enterprise. Perhaps one they get finished with her in Bremerton, they can find a way to patch up those dismantled spaces enough to make a museum of her.

Time will tell.

Its a shame these great ships cant be sold off to other navy's around the world, and kept in service, but the running cost are so high.

its a bigger shame that they have to go to the breakers yards.

I remember as a kid here in the UK as the Old Ark Royal was on a kids TV program just about to made into Razor blades the UKs last (Super carrier) Fleet carrier, looking forward I cant wait to see the new QE Class CV ( Fleet Carrier) almost super carrier enter HMNB Portsmouth
at least you can look back with pride at the history the US Navy super carriers, unlike your poor relations.

I agree with you regarding Enterprise but if she became a museum could they still use her name?

mattd said:

Its a shame these great ships cant be sold off to other navy's around the world, and kept in service, but the running cost are so high.

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Not going to happen my friend. As you stated it is too expensive to operate. Most navies do not have the manpower to simply man one of the leviathans..or the money to operate one.

In a old thread it was discussed what if another nation got one of these ships what would they do with it. Several suggestions ensued.

Read from the last post on this page..

Aircraft Carriers

mattd said:

Its a shame these great ships cant be sold off to other navy's around the world, and kept in service, but the running cost are so high.

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As popeye indicated...that is one of the big reasons.

Another is that the US is unwilling to transfer the technoilofgy associated with them and their construction.

The US puts a LOT of effort into not only engineering the carrier hull form itself, but also into its combat engineering in terms of the structure, the resistance it has to damage, and the way it is designed in terms of condition Zulu and watertight integrity.

The US simply will not let go of the details necessary to allow potential adversaries to begin replicating this.

Together (the high manpower and maintenance cost + the technology issues), mean that the US itself is not willing to allow it.

mattd said:

I agree with you regarding Enterprise but if she became a museum could they still use her name?

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I think once the vessel is officially decommissioned, they would be able to use the name again.

A typical, privately operated museum ship like this would not be a commissioned ship like the old USS Constitution is.


For example, the USS John F. Kennedy, CV-67, which has been decommissioned but is still afloat and being considered as a museum ship, will also be the name of the second Ford Class carrier, USS John F. Kennedy, CVN-79, whose keel will be laid later this year.

Thank you Jeff, most interesting, like I said I hope they manage to save the Enterprise, I don't think we Brits will be able to save the last of the Invincible class, due to lack of interest and the large cost of preserving her. although the government have said she would be preserved for future generations.

mattd said:

Thank you Jeff, most interesting, like I said I hope they manage to save the Enterprise, I don't think we Brits will be able to save the last of the Invincible class, due to lack of interest and the large cost of preserving her. although the government have said she would be preserved for future generations.

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You are welcome Matt.

Many of us also hope that they save the Enterprise, CVN-65. She was the 1st nuclear carrier, and the longest serving US carrier to date.

However, I fear she will go the way of the other very famous USS Enterprise, CV-6. She was the most decorated naval vessel in US history, and was a lynch pin in the US Navy's victory in the Pacific in World War II.

Yet, despite efforts to the contrary...she went to the breakers.