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In the 19th century, warships spent many hours maintaining the rigging for their sails as well as the readiness of the wooden decks. Obviously, if the ship coul

In the 19th century, warships spent many hours maintaining the rigging for their sails as well as the readiness of the wooden decks. Obviously, if the ship couldn't deploy their sails in either battle or storm conditions, it stood a fair chance of being lost. As a result, sailors were constantly going up and down the ropes, brushing tar on them to waterproof and protect the ropes from fraying. Decks were sanded to maintain a rough surface that the mostly-barefoot sailors could maintain contact when the decks were wet or bloody. In the day of billion dollar vessels, as a taxpayer, I would sort of demand that the navy do more so that the lifetime of these very expensive ships can be as long as possible. If they're going to constantly go back to congress for more ship money, they must demonstrate they can maintain the ones they already have.

solardev 4y ago
Don't things become obsolete pretty quickly these days? Why spend tax money maintaining old equipment superceded by ever evolving arms races? Seems like maybe cutting our losses and decommissioning old stuff when they're no longer useful would be a better use of communal funds.
- CapricornNoble 4y ago
  Judging by the picture, she's definitely an Arleigh Burke DDG. Someone in the Twitter comments says she's a Flight II, so as far as Major Surface Combatants go, this should still be a pretty useful warship. US naval shipbuilding is such a mess, and we're already behind the power curve against the Chinese naval buildup. We really can't afford to toss our DDGs until we at LEAST start cranking out FFG(X)/ Constellation-class Frigates like WW2 Liberty ships. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation-class_frigate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation-class_frigate
- black6 4y ago
  The last straw for my cousin, and why he left the Navy, was when he took a bew submarine on her maiden voyage, then immediately had to turn around and put her in dry dock for a retrofit because it was built on a decades-old contract and most of the systems were obsolete as they were installed. But the contract "couldn't" be changed, and more money was paid out to the war profiteers to do what should have been done in th3 first place.
- ip26 4y ago
  That makes sense after a fashion, but a culture of maintenance and repair is valuable in wartime.

solardev 4y ago

Don't things become obsolete pretty quickly these days? Why spend tax money maintaining old equipment superceded by ever evolving arms races? Seems like maybe cutting our losses and decommissioning old stuff when they're no longer useful would be a better use of communal funds.

CapricornNoble 4y ago
Judging by the picture, she's definitely an Arleigh Burke DDG. Someone in the Twitter comments says she's a Flight II, so as far as Major Surface Combatants go, this should still be a pretty useful warship. US naval shipbuilding is such a mess, and we're already behind the power curve against the Chinese naval buildup. We really can't afford to toss our DDGs until we at LEAST start cranking out FFG(X)/ Constellation-class Frigates like WW2 Liberty ships. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation-class_frigate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation-class_frigate
black6 4y ago
The last straw for my cousin, and why he left the Navy, was when he took a bew submarine on her maiden voyage, then immediately had to turn around and put her in dry dock for a retrofit because it was built on a decades-old contract and most of the systems were obsolete as they were installed. But the contract "couldn't" be changed, and more money was paid out to the war profiteers to do what should have been done in th3 first place.
ip26 4y ago
That makes sense after a fashion, but a culture of maintenance and repair is valuable in wartime.