News, After homecoming, USS Enterprise to sail off to history’s scrap heap. (Washington, origin)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – The USS Enterprise is the nation’s oldest active duty warship, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and a history-making symbol of America’s naval might for half a century.
Brings up an interesting point I had never thought of. It seems to have become somewhat normal to try and turn old warships, especially famous ones with known names into museums. Obviously that costs a lot of money and many of the museum ships don't exactly have solid financials and are falling into disrepair. What I found interesting though and hadn't thought of before, is that you can't turn a nuclear powered ship into a museum. You can't just leave the reactors in the ship for obvious reasons, but removing them basically destroys the ship in the process. Enterprise would have easily made a slamdunk candidate for a museum ship, but it's simply not possible to do. So, is this pretty much the end of the "museum ship" era? Are the Iowa's and the last conventionally powered carriers it? If so, maybe we should take some time to invest a little more in preserving the ones we do have.
What I found interesting though and hadn't thought of before, is that you can't turn a nuclear powered ship into a museum. You can't just leave the reactors in the ship for obvious reasons, but removing them basically destroys the ship in the process.
10 reactors in the case of the Enterprise. Scrapping was the fate of the Long Beach and the Bainbridge the first nuclear cruiser and destroyer respectively.
All things pass... even today's museum ships won't last forever.
Even famous old tall ships like the USS Constitution or HMS Victory only have a very small percentage of their original timber, and unlike a wooden ship, once a metal hull rusts out it can't just be replaced.
It really is sad because I love ships... especially historic ones.
and unlike a wooden ship, once a metal hull rusts out it can't just be replaced.
Yes it can, by a process of cutting out the most corroded areas and replacing them with new iron, just like with a blast furnace, smokestack or pressure vessel. It costs of course, boilermakers and iron ship builders don't come cheap.
Instead of turning it into a museum, they could use it in a more functional way as part of a sea wall to protect the NJ coast. It would be appropriate to end it's days still guarding a coastline, and maybe even bring in a little tourist money as a curiosity. Maybe people could take boat tours out to visit it, so in some ways it would be like a museum.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
