It’s always a sad day when a ship is scrapped, but to see a ship destroyed or sunk in a ferocious manner may turn your stomach, particularly if you’ve served on that ship.
In recent years, many of the United States Navy’s Spruance-class destroyers have seen a particularly violent exclamation point at the end of their useful service life. Here are some videos and images showing a few of the different ways these ships have ended up at the bottom of the ocean…
A combination of missiles, 5-inch rounds, small arms, and a Mk 82, 500-pound bomb dropped from a F/A-18 Hornet…
Mark 48 torpedo…
Test firing of the Mark 48 torpedo by the Australian Navy to scuttle HMAS Torrens.
The Radford’s sea chests and hatches were left open and the ship was sent to the bottom gently…
Harpoon Missiles, Laser-guided bombs, and Maverick Missiles…
The Oriskany was rigged with high explosives and is now a destination for divers in the Gulf of Mexico
Test of a 23kT nuclear fission bomb – Operation Crossroads, Image courtesy U.S. Army Photographic Signal Corps
Nice feature gCaptain! But that last shot is not a hydrogen bomb. It's Test Baker, an underwater bomb set off on 25 July 1946 as the second part of Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll. The first thermonuclear "H-Bomb" wasn't exploded until 1954. Aside from that, hard to believe that of all the Sprucans, only EDD 964 survives above water, while nearly all sleep with the fishes.
Always sad to see a ship go, but these didn't have valiant crews fighting the damage with Zebra set. Even so, the Cushing fought damn hard just by her self :-) My ships suffered the fate of the 'ship breakers' which is a more painful and slow process, I think I like the SINKEX passing better, at least they go out as warships and not just as scrap.
Why not sell them to other countries?
Many are sold but some have reached the end of their service life due to corrosion/damage. It actually costs a lot to sell a warship because we have to fix them, then the foreign countries also get money to keep them going (that’s what I was doing in Egypt).
Desiree, we do sell some ships off and many are still in service under a different flag. But a lot of ships are too expensive to maintain and other countries either don't want or can't afford them. Plus, sinking old ships is a great way to test actual war fighting tactics and skills using the real thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFyt3bM_MJo USS Caron DD-970 was accidentally sunk during tests. Was supposed to follow the others in missile exercises. What a waste of a class of ships.
Three more will be sunk during RIMPAC 2012 over the next few weeks, the former combat stores ships (AFR) Niagara Falls, Concord and San Jose.
Three more will be sunk during RIMPAC 2012 over the next few weeks, the former combat stores ships (AFR) Niagara Falls, Concord and San Jose.
Ah, good catch. Thanks for that. For some reason I thought the Baker test was a fusion-type bomb.