A third U.S. Navy
aircraft carrier is headed to Brownsville, Texas for dismantling.
The Navy announced
Friday that a $3 million contract has been awarded to International
Shipbreaking Limited for the towing, dismantling and recycling of the USS
Constellation, a ship first used in the Vietnam War, and last deployed during
Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The ship, nicknamed
“Connie” by its crew, is part of the Navy’s five-year scrapping plan that also
sent the USS Forrestal and the USS Saratoga to Brownsville for dismantling.
“The Navy continues to
own the ship during the dismantling process,” the Naval Sea Systems Command
Office said in a news release.
“The contractor takes
ownership of the scrap metal as it’s produced and sells the scrap to offset its
costs of operations,” the release said.
Officials say the
Constellation’s final journey from Naval Base Kitsap, Washington, to
Brownsville will begin in the coming months.
The Constellation was
built at New York Naval Shipyard in Brooklyn, New York, and is the last
aircraft carrier to be built outside of Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock
Company, according to the Navy’s release.
The ship was
commissioned in 1961, and is named for the ring of 13 stars that formed a “new
constellation” on the United States flag, according to the Navy.
In 1990 the ship
underwent an $800 million overhaul that took three years to complete, but was
expected to add 15 years of operational life. It was stricken from service in
2003.
Source:
fox news. 14 June 2014
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