Navy sink list includes Forrestal, destroyers

[unhappycamper]

The aircraft carrier Forrestal underway, May 31, 1962.


Navy sink list includes Forrestal, destroyers
By Zachary M. Peterson - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Feb 23, 2008 18:14:59 EST

The Navy plans to sink 15 decommissioned ships and scrap an additional 24 in the next five years, according to the latest shipbuilding plan.

In fiscal 2009, the Navy will sink the Yellowstone-class destroyer Acadia, the Spruance-class destroyer Conolly and the acoustic research ship Hayes. The Hayes is still active and will be decommissioned sometime this year, according to the Navy. The service requested $5.4 million to sink the three ships in the fiscal 2009 budget presented to Congress in early February.

Two ships in the current plan are slated to sink and become artificial reefs, the plan notes: the Spruance-class destroyer Arthur W. Radford, which rests in Philadelphia, and the auxiliary aircraft landing training ship and former carrier Forrestal, currently berthed in Newport, R.I. Specific sink dates have not been set for these two ships because plans must be coordinated with Congress and other government agencies, the plan states.

The Radford was named after the first Navy admiral to hold the position of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was decommissioned in March 2003 after about 26 years in service. The Forrestal spent 38 years in service. The ship was the first of its class of aircraft carriers, and was known unofficially as the “Forrest fire” due to the number of fires onboard. Innovations on the Forrestal-class carriers included an angled flight deck and a steam catapult. The ship was named after former Navy secretary James Forrestal, who was also the first defense secretary.

The majority of the ships the Navy plans to sink — 11 vessels of the 15 — are auxiliary ships. These ships will be replaced by T-AKE dry cargo and ammunition ships. The Lewis and Clark-class T-AKE ships replace three auxiliary ships: the Kilauea-class ammunition ships, the Mars-class combat stores ships and — when operating with a Henry J. Kaiser-class oiler — the Supply-class fast combat support ships.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/02/navy_shipdisposal_080223w/

[Submariner]

1. The SINKEX program sunk my last duty sub last year

MAY 2007
The ex-USS Sailfish 572 was sunk by a Mk 48 ADCAP torpedo fired from the USS Topeka SSN 754 at N47 05.783 W127 23.133.

This is a short video of the sinking in about 8700 feet of water off the coast of northern California.

http://www.h2orbit.com/Images/SINKEX.wmv