The short life of the new USS Little Rock: Design flaws, setbacks lead to decommissioningBy MARK SOMMER
THE BUFFALO NEWS, N.Y.
February 4, 2023
(Tribune News Service) — Some 8,500 people turned out on Dec. 16, 2017, to watch the commissioning of the new $440 million USS Little Rock — draped in red, white and blue bunting — at Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park.
That now appears to have been the ship’s only bright moment.
Not even six years later, the USS Little Rock will be decommissioned on March 31 at Mayport Naval Station in Florida, where it is stationed.
The 387-foot-long vessel was imperiled from the start with significant design flaws that the Navy has concluded cannot be overcome.
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Rear Adm. John Gumbleton, the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for budget, put the cost of the nine vessels — the newest of which was commissioned in 2020 — to be decommissioned at $4.5 billion, according to defensenews.com.
“That’s a lot of money going, literally, right down the drain,” said Mike Vogel, president of the Buffalo Lighthouse Association. “It was a very expensive ship that had all kinds of potential, and it was certainly an honor to have it commissioned here in Buffalo. It’s kind of heartbreaking to see it a little bit later being decommissioned and probably scrapped.”
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Source:
https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2023-02-04/uss-little-rock-design-flaws-setbacks-decommissioning-9040428.html
