20 years is a lifetime for a modern ship even though I served on older. We didn't put out to sea till we had spent a lot of time in the ship yard and then it was iffy on a couple of ships I was on, (one in particular), if we were going to be coming back on full power or limp into port. This is a crying shame that she was allowed to get so bad but the boys in and close to the oval office don't think about things like that until we start not being able to do our missions. Then somehow it's the Captains fault that he didn't have the funds or authorization to fix it earlier.
February 01, 2012
Stars and Stripes|by Matthew M. Burke
SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan -- For the second time in seven months, mechanical or maintenance issues have prevented the USS Essex from meeting a commitment at sea, Navy officials said Wednesday.
The 21-year-old flagship of the forward deployed Expeditionary Strike Group 7 was scheduled to depart several days ago for Cobra Gold 2012, an annual exercise with Thailand. The mission was scrapped due to an equipment failure.
It is true, the Essex will not be making Cobra Gold, Task Force 76 spokesman Lt. Richard Drake said. The cause is wear and tear.
http://www.military.com/news/article...=1186032325324
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