USS America to be sunk off East Coast

I just read in Defense News that the carrier USS America is going to be sunk
in tests off the East Coast of the US. They will detonate various
explosives aboard her to determine how much damage she takes. Six A-7
Corsairs will be located at various positions to see how much damage they
take. The Navy will also detonate large explosives in the water nearby.
Finally, they will set off scuttling charges.

The USS Oriskany will be sunk as an artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico.

The article implied that most of the retired supercarriers will be disposed
of this way. Forrestal is probably next. Saratoga and Ranger are on a list
for possible preservation, but the Navy leadership is trying to change the
rules to get ships off of the preservation reserve list faster. And I doubt
that anybody is going to be able to save the kind of money necessary to
preserve a supercarrier (and certainly not more than one--the goal should be
to save the Enterprise when she is eventually retired).

Scuttling at sea is now cheaper than scrapping due to the environmental
costs.




D