the last Light Aircraft Carrier

[Matt W]

Your carrier may not have been available as a Naval Asset - but it could have been very useful as a prison hulk. Lots of room and nobody digs escape tunnels

Where else are you going to "warehouse" the POW population?

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Matt W

Your carrier may not have been available as a Naval Asset - but it could have been very useful as a prison hulk. Lots of room and nobody digs escape tunnels

Where else are you going to "warehouse" the POW population?

Again, it probably got nuked....
I don't know much about the layout of New Orleans, but my guess is the docks would have been fairly high up on the list of priority targets for the warheads launched against the city.

[Blakrider]

you made some good points legbreaker about the USS Cabot, but I could simply say that an other organisation bought her in 92 and moved her to Mobile, AL and began making repairs and preping her to be a Museum ship next to the USS Alabama. when things started side into that bucket, the navy may just think to here her like Chico did the remaining Essex class Carriers and bring it back into service.

and as to possible cost of reactivating the Attack Transport USS Gage, the haskell class is really nothing more then a WW2 era Victory Frieghter that has been converted to a attack ship. and a large number of them were still part of the reserve fleet in the mid to late 90s.

In the 1997 a survey was done to evaluate the cost of refit and reactivation of the ships to active duty. total cost estimated $2. Million, almost the same cost of building them in the first place, ($2,500,000, but adjusting for inflation her construction coasts would have been a estimated $40 Million. if they had gone ahead it would made the US Military less reliant on forgien shipping. ( of course the politicians stopped it, made to much sence)

[mikeo80]

I know I am treading on thin ground being a "newbee" to the game...

But consider the following...

What IF the nukes were limited to some tactical exchanges?

What if the Minutemen, B-52's and etc. (plus the Russian equivalent) had stayed at high alert, but stayed in the silos/airfields? The Politicians and the Generals determined that the possibility of doomsday was STILL too unacceptable.

As I have read the stories posted here, the attrition of the conventional forces were enormous...

I think that the US Military would look at the older Battleships as a way of introducing MAJOR combat units in 1 - 2 years.

Just my mind wondering down a different road.

Mike

[mikeo80]

Just an additional thought....

There is something very satisfying to a gamer as the image of a Battleship firing nine 16" guns.....

[Adm.Lee]

I'd think the Navy would have trouble finding experienced chiefs for the older ships. The machinery (not least the guns) were generations old, and the guys who knew how to run them were scarce. Those in the Iowaclass would have to be thinned out to get the older ships running, and parts would be a major headache. With a disrupted supply chain, I can't see the museum ships used for more than accommodation and secure storage.

Lee.

[dragoon500ly]

another thing to consider is the amount of modification that took place on the museum ships to allow easier access...the USS Alabama is a case in point...in order to allow easier access to the 16-inch magazine spaces, a nice large hole was cut through the side of the barbette.

I was also able to take a tour of the engine spaces, and based on what I saw, I'd say at least 12-14 months of heavy repair to get the old turbines back into shape. That is if the yard didn't decide to just yank them out and replace them completely.