Navy decides to base carrier at Mayport

[unhappycamper]

CVN to Florida
Mayport will again homeport a carrier


Navy decides to base carrier at Mayport
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jan 14, 2009 17:49:32 EST

The Navy has decided to make Naval Station Mayport, Fla., the homeport for a nuclear-powered carrier, Florida Sen. Mel Martinez announced Wednesday, only hours after praising the idea in a speech before a Navy group outside Washington.

Martinez’s office made the announcement and released a copy of the Navy’s decision paper, dated Wednesday and signed by B.J. Penn, assistant secretary of the Navy for installations and environment.

Just a few hours before, Martinez had hailed the Navy’s proposal to homeport an aircraft carrier at Mayport, citing the need for “dispersal” of the fleet’s capital ships and the convenience of having two East Coast ports equipped to repair flattops.

“Strategic dispersal is in the best interest of national security,” said Martinez, a Republican, in a speech at the Surface Navy Association’s annual national symposium. Not only would a Mayport carrier ensure all the ships weren’t together in the event of a Pearl Harbor-style attack, he said, but it would relieve what he called the “burden” carried by Naval Station Norfolk, Va., as the only East Coast port equipped to maintain nuclear-powered carriers.

All five East Coast carriers were in port together in the Hampton Roads area for 35 days last year, Martinez said, and two carriers were there together for about 81 percent of the time. Keeping the ships together makes them vulnerable, he said. Not only that, if there were an attack on Norfolk, and a carrier at sea off the East Coast couldn’t dock there for some reason, it would take three weeks to sail around to the West Coast and reach a nuclear-capable port, Martinez said.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/01/navy_SNA_mayport_011409w/%2e

[Sherman A1]

1. Of course

who would spring that "attack" that is such a worry is of some question, but whatever keeps the Senator entertained and dollars flowing into his state are the real important issues here.