Evidently, not a fuck of a lot if you ask me...
Now granted - this photo is a couple of years old, but am I the only one who remembers that a huge collection of vital war-fighting ships in one location at the same time is a bad idea? In this pic you can see the aircraft carriers USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), USS Enterprise (CVN 65), USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) are in port at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., the world’s largest naval station.
Nine "Flattops," five aircraft carriers, and four amphibious assault ships, are crammed together here at Norfolk among smaller ships and nuclear submarines. The nine flattops alone, number more than all eight battleships at Pearl Harbor in 1941.
This cohort of ships at Norfolk were all together for the last time as sixty percent of U.S. ships were headed to the Pacific and the carrier USS Enterprise fell to decommissioning after 52 years of service.
Ships serving in the Pacific Fleet generally call the Naval Base in San Diego home, making it the largest Navy base on the West Coast.
History repeats itself. Wait and see.
ReplyDeleteDon't tell the Japanese about this collection of US Navy ships in one place!!!
ReplyDeleteYou need to realize that the number of harbors that can accommodate modern US carriers are few and dwindling. It isn't like they can be put just anywhere. They need shore security, nuclear propulsion maintenance facilities, huge dry docks, quarters for thousands of crew.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I love the CVN's, their day has come and gone, mostly. Modern missile tech makes them giant vulnerable targets, our best efforts notwithstanding. We should be building subs, missiles, and satellites. That is the future. At least for the winners of the next big war.
The number of ports that can dock these behemoths may be limited but that doesn't mean they all have to be in port at the same time creating a target rich environment. The Champaign Party Admirals back in Dec. 1941 didn't think anything could happen to the fleet then either.
DeleteCan't afford to keep them all at sea. And the number of carrier squadrons needed to make them useful can't always be deployed either. There's a rotation based on air crew training, operational tempo, maintenance, and current events.
DeleteWhen you need to get rid of expensive toys that are past their prime AND enrage the citizens all in one evernt
ReplyDeleteThe problem is we closed a lot of bases to cut costs for the military. Now we group more forces in fewer places.
ReplyDeleteThe chokepoint exit channel for all of them to get underway out of port is just about as vulnerable as the Francis Scott Key bridge.
ReplyDeleteRetRsvMike
It's narrow, but at least there's no bridge. But your point is well taken.
DeleteYou can thank the BRAC (Base Reductions) of the mid 90's. After building a number of bases to disperse the Fleet in the 80's, they shut all the new bases and many of the old bases. Congressional insanity...
ReplyDelete