USS Independence departs for Brownsville scrapyard

The USS Independence, which served with the Navy from 1959-1998, departed Bremerton today for Brownsville Texas, where it will be scrapped. She was originally scheduled to leave Washington late last year, arriving in Texas early this year. Under the new schedule, she'll arrive in Texas this summer. She's too large to go through the Panama Canal, so she has to go around the tip of South America.

She was built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and at the time of her retirement, was the longest serving vessel in the fleet. She launched 7,000 missions over Vietnam, served in Lebanon, Grenada, Desert Shield, and Operation Southern Watch.



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Yup, and that weather has been like that here since October with no let up.

They have or at least had three carriers in Portsmouth RI when I lived up there that I used to just go park and look at for awhile. They have always fascinated me. You can almost see the ghost still walking the decks.
Makes me kind of sad to see them scrapped, I'm sure it hurts the sailors more that called them home.
I'm glad I went on the Might Mo when I was in Hawaii. It was sort of surreal knowing the history of that ship. Standing in the spot I've seen the surrendered signed from old footage. I don't know felt like I was in a sort of time warp.

So dumb question. Is this ship capable of sailing on her own to Texas or are the tugs taking her the whole way?

a reply to: onehuman

When they go into storage, they strip them of everything usable, or that could cause environmental problems. Many of those will be taken out for a SinkEx and hit with live weapons, and sunk. She has to be towed all the way around South America and up to Texas.

a reply to: Zaphod58

She has to be towed all the way around South America and up to Texas.

Why not the Panama Canal ?

originally posted by: the2ofusr1
a reply to: Zaphod58

She has to be towed all the way around South America and up to Texas.

Why not the Panama Canal ?

Did you read the OP?

She's too large to go through the Panama Canal,

SMH

The last CV to be sunk in a live fire exercise was USS America. Every one since then has been dismantled for scrap.

a reply to: Liquesence

I only asked because Zap mentioned it in a comment .

a reply to: schuyler

There are a lot of other ships that are stored with the carriers that end up sunk in them though. Some time in the next few years, the Tarawa is going to go down off Hawaii. She's currently stored at Pearl Harbor.

a reply to: the2ofusr1

All the carriers are too big for the canal, so they usually go through the Straits of Magellan, or down around the tip of South America. In this case, they'll probably go the long way around. There are places in the Straits where they can hit the sides of the channel without touching the bottom. With her being under tow instead of under her own power, it would be riskier.

Wait a couple more years and they could take it through Panama Canal expansion project..

This is just government wasting taxpayers money.

a reply to: ANNED

No, wasting money is keeping them stored waiting to take them through the Panama Canal if the expansion is done on time. They're paying about $6M for the company to scrap her, and several hundred thousand or more every year it's in storage.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Don't the scrap yards make money off of them, but we still pay them 6 mill to do it?

a reply to: Grimpachi

They do, but it still costs the companies a lot to move them and cut them. With metal prices being as low as they are their profit is pretty low.

a reply to: Zaphod58

In that case I wish they would just bring it down here and sink it close enough to be a dive spot. It would be cheaper and become a tourist dive spot.

I flew off the Independence as part of a ViP tour. I impersonated my father in order to come aboard. The ship was just refitted at PNSY and heading out for sea trials.

Shame they are never able to preserve these big ships as museums.

The really tragic cases of that are the most battle hardened and experienced world war 2 ships that after their long and valiant careers ended up with the indignity of the scrapyard.

a reply to: Ohanka

They can't save every ship and this one was built 14 years after ww2. I do wish they could something better to do with them is seems like such a waste.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Its a shame America is bound by treaty not to develop an equivalent to the Chinese DF-21D and DF-26 carrier killers, the USS Independence would of made a great test subject. My guess is it will be fitted with explosives and sunk since there is no other option.

a reply to: Ohanka

A number of them are preserved as museums. There are currently five carriers preserved as museums. Yorktown, Intrepid, Hornet, Lexington, and Midway. They MAY add the John F. Kennedy to that list.