Navy on Yorktown: Fix it or junk it

[unhappycamper]

The Navy told the Patriots Point Development Authority to either repair or dispose of the Yorktown; agency head Dick Trammell said, 'Disposal is not in our vocabulary.'


Navy on Yorktown: Fix it or junk it
By John McDermott
The Post and Courier
Wednesday, October 21, 2009

MOUNT PLEASANT -- The aircraft carrier Yorktown played a heroic role in numerous battles for the Navy, from the time it was built in the 1940s until it was decommissioned in 1970.

But as the longtime centerpiece of the floating maritime museum at Patriots Point, the inactive warship has been slowly losing a silent, corrosive and very costly war with nature.

Officials at the military attraction estimated Tuesday that it would cost more than $100 million to dry dock and repair the ship's deteriorating steel hull. It's money that South Carolina does not have.

The long-simmering problem came to a boil as the Patriots Point Development Authority discussed a letter it received from the Department of the Navy about the deteriorating condition of the donated ship.

In short, the Navy has given the state agency two options for dealing with the Yorktown: Either put the vessel in dry dock so its rusting hull can be fixed or submit a plan to dispose of the aging ship.


Rest of article at: http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/oct/21/navy-on-yorktown-fix-it-or-junk-it/

[Captain Hilts]

1. As a volunteer on an historic vessel, I cannot comprehend what it takes to keep a carrier going

other than a LOT of money...

[JPZenger]

2. Lawsuit Against USS Olympia

Here's another tidbit from a few years ago:

The USS Olympia was Admiral Dewey's flagship during the Battle of Manila Bay. It continues to be on display in Philadelphia.

It used to be controlled by a small non-profit group. A young guy painting the ship fell overboard and drowned. His family sued the group and received a judgement of a few million dollars. The group said their only asset was the ship. Then the Navy said that they have an agreement that if the ship was ever not on public display as a museum, it must be returned to the Navy, and therefore it could not be sold to pay the judgement. I don't know if anything was ever paid out.

In any case, a museum with more resources took over control of the ship.

[glowing]

3. Man, Patriot's Point without the ship seems so weird to think about.

I lived in MB and then Charleston for a year.. I went on that thing almost everytime some family member came to visit me in the south. Its just another piece of that place.