 Editor in Chief Bill   | 07 Oct 2021 10:08 p.m. PST |
The U.S. Navy sold two aircraft carriers to a ship-breaking company for one cent each after decades of service… USS Kitty Hawk and USS John F. Kennedy Military: link |
| Whatisitgood4atwork | 08 Oct 2021 1:28 a.m. PST |
A good negotiator could have got at least 10c for them. Maybe 20. |
 Dan Cyr  | 08 Oct 2021 8:23 a.m. PST |
Wonder why they were not sunk as diving targets or habitat for fish? Too polluted and expensive to clean prior to sinking? |
 javelin98 | 08 Oct 2021 12:41 p.m. PST |
Why didn't we at least get the value of the steel out of these? As a taxpayer, I'm annoyed. |
| JMcCarroll | 08 Oct 2021 4:24 p.m. PST |
Please don't tell me we sold them to the Chinese! |
| Schogun | 08 Oct 2021 6:35 p.m. PST |
I was going to offer them 25 cents each for them but I didn't know where to put them. I didn't think my neighbors would like looking at them in my back yard. |
| Escapee | 08 Oct 2021 8:24 p.m. PST |
It is hugely expensive to tow them and break them up. They spent years on the Navy's list of ships being maintained as possible museums/memorials, but no groups could make it happen. We save a bundle up front by not continuing to maintain them, and letting a private firm do the breakups. |
| charles popp | 09 Oct 2021 1:31 p.m. PST |
bs, just think how much copper and aluminum are those . That company is making a ton |
| Escapee | 09 Oct 2021 8:53 p.m. PST |
Nobody said they would not make a profit, but it is not easy, and it's not vast riches free and clear. It is complex and dangerous. Thousands of tons of hazardous materials to handle, separate and dispose of. It takes months. Large specialized labor costs, regulatory issues. Heavy lifting and moving. Some serious special equipment. The scrap metal may barely cover the cost by the time they are done, depending on how it goes and prices.
They are towing one of them around the tip of South America to get it from Bremerton to the breakers in Brownsville. |
| John the OFM | 10 Oct 2021 3:47 p.m. PST |
"Here. They're your headache now."
I would not be surprised if the Navy was prohibited by law from just giving them away. I also suspect that one cent is the standard price for this kind of deal. |
| Escapee | 10 Oct 2021 5:36 p.m. PST |
|
| Thresher01 | 11 Oct 2021 12:09 a.m. PST |
I would have offered $1.00 USD each, if given liability waivers for fuel, oil, and nuke radiation contamination. |
| Escapee | 11 Oct 2021 8:23 p.m. PST |
Luckily they were the last conventional powered carriers. The first nuclear carrier that followed, Enterprise, cost us 1.5 billion to break-up. The Navy would be glad to stick you with any of these for a buck. For example, think about the massive asbestos remediation process for these ships. This has been the subject of health claims for years by sailors who served and performed normal duties on board. You would not be getting a waiver. The headaches are endless. They are lucky anyone took this on. |
 Legion 4 | 12 Oct 2021 8:15 a.m. PST |
Yeah saw that on Military.com too … These guys should have got some used car salesmen to make the deal … 🚗🚙🚐 |
| jamemurp | 14 Oct 2021 11:05 a.m. PST |
Yeah, it can take years to take these ships apart and their are substantial costs for having them moved and stored, much less the disassembly. Costs that the Navy has had to pay in the past. Getting out of these with no further cost *is* a good deal. If the company doing it can make a profit, great deal all around. |
