Navy can't scrap ships, but can't fix them either

[unhappycamper]

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/navy-cant-scrap-ships-cant-fix-them-either



The Navy's Anzio guided missile cruiser is shown on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 1998, while cruising in the Mediteranean sea.

Navy can't scrap ships, but can't fix them either
By Dianna Cahn
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 22, 2013

NORFOLK

The Navy is stuck with a number of poorly performing ships it wasn't permitted to scrap but can't afford to fix because Congress hasn't resolved its budget stalemate.

Four Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers were on the Navy's decommissioning list for 2013 because repairing and upgrading them would cost billions of dollars. But Congress objected to the cuts and instead authorized money to maintain three of them.

~snip~

Congress failed to agree on a 2013 budget and instead placed government spending under a continuing resolution - a Band-Aid measure that keeps the government running at 2012 budget levels, with no new appropriations.

That leaves the Navy responsible for keeping three cruisers operational, including the Norfolk-based Anzio, without setting aside money to maintain or repair them, much less do necessary upgrades. As a result, the Anzio and two other cruisers - the Vicksburg, based in Mayport, Fla., and the Cowpens, in Yokosuka, Japan - are operating at diminished levels and with minimal staffing, able to do some local tasks, but not considered suitable for deploying overseas.