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| USS Ranger |
The Navy has paid a Texas ship breaker $0.01 to
transport and dismantle the third American super carrier — Ranger (CV-61),
according to a Monday statement from Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA).
The letting of the contract follows an October
decision from the Navy to not donate the ship to the USS Ranger Foundation. The
foundation had planned to moor the ship in Oregon on the Columbia River near
Portland and create a museum.
“After eight years on donation hold, the USS Ranger
Foundation was unable to raise the necessary funds to convert the ship into a
museum or to overcome the physical obstacles of transporting her up the
Columbia River to Fairfview, Oregon,” read the statement from NAVSEA.
“While there are many veterans with strong desires
that the Navy not scrap the ship they served on, there were no states,
municipalities or non-profit organizations with a viable plan seeking to save
the ship. The Navy cannot donate a vessel unless the application fully meets
the Navy’s minimum requirements for donation, and cannot retain inactive ships
indefinitely.”
The hull will now be towed from the Navy’s inactive
ships maintenance facility in Bremerton, Wash. to International Shipbreaking’s
dismantling facility in Brownsville, Texas. The ship will depart Bremerton in
January or February and travel around the tip of South America.
NAVSEA took pains to explain the financial
arrangement with the company to USNI News on Monday. The $0.01 fee pays for the
transportation and dismantling of Ranger by the company. After covering the
cost of transportation, International Shipbreaking retains the profits from
selling the scrap.
Ranger is one of four 60,000-ton Forestall-class
carriers, known as the first so-called super carriers, and was in commission
from 1957 to 1993.
The ship served extensively in the Vietnam War and
later in Operation Desert Storm.
The following
is the complete Dec. 22, 2014 statement from NAVSEA.
Navy Awards Contract for Ranger Dismantling
From: Naval Sea Systems Command Office of Corporate
Communication
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Navy awarded a contract
for the towing and dismantling of the decommissioned aircraft carrier Ranger
(CV 61) to International Shipbreaking Ltd.
Under the contract, the company will be paid $0.01.
The price reflects the net price proposed by International Shipbreaking, which
considered the estimated proceeds from the sale of the scrap metal to be
generated from dismantling. This is not a sales contract, it is a procurement
contract. $0.01 is the lowest price the Navy could possibly have paid the
contractor for towing and dismantling the ship.
The ship will be towed from the Navy’s inactive ships
maintenance facility in Bremerton, Washington, to International Shipbreaking
Ltd.’s ship dismantling facility in Brownsville, Texas for complete dismantling
and recycling.
The ship is expected to depart Bremerton via tow in
January or February 2015, and arrive in Brownsville after four to five months.
The ship is too large for passage through the Panama Canal and must be towed
around South America.
Ranger was the third Forrestal class aircraft carrier
to be built. The ship was laid down Aug. 2, 1954, by Newport News Shipbuilding
& Drydock Co., Newport News, Virginia, and commissioned at the Norfolk
Naval Shipyard on Aug. 10, 1957. Ranger was the only ship of the Forrestal
class to spend its entire career in the Pacific. The ship made a total of 22
Western Pacific deployments, was an active participant in the Vietnam War, and
was the only West Coast-based carrier to deploy in support of Operation Desert
Storm.
Ranger was decommissioned July 10, 1993, after more
than 35 years of service. It served as a retention asset for potential future
reactivation until stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on March 8, 2004,
and redesigned for donation. After eight years on donation hold, the USS Ranger
Foundation was unable to raise the necessary funds to convert the ship into a
museum or to overcome the physical obstacles of transporting her up the
Columbia River to Fairfview, Oregon. As a result, the Ranger was removed from
the list of ships available for dismantling and designated for dismantling.
While there are many veterans with strong desires
that the Navy not scrap the ship they served on, there were no states,
municipalities or non-profit organizations with a viable plan seeking to save
the ship. The Navy cannot donate a vessel unless the application fully meets
the Navy’s minimum requirements for donation, and cannot retain inactive ships
indefinitely.
Source: usni news.
22 December 2014
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