The US Navy is planning to 'recycle' one of its first supercarriers. Here's what's next for USS Nimi

[rangerrebew]

The US Navy is planning to 'recycle' one of its first supercarriers. Here's what's next for USS Nimitz.
Benjamin Brimelow
 

    The USS Nimitz joined the Navy in May 1973. It was the second nuclear-powered carrier ever built.

    But over the next five years, Nimitz will be retired, stripped down, and have its reactor removed.

    The Navy is beginning to "recycle" the venerable aircraft carrier after a half-century in service.
 

On December 9, the Navy released its 30-year shipbuilding plan. With the ambitious goal of building a 546-ship fleet by 2051, the plan calls for 404 new vessels to be built as 304 are retired.

https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-to-recycle-uss-nimitz-one-of-first-supercarriers-2021-2

[PeteS in CA]

Scrapping naval ships is not a new thing. While decommissioned ships are sometimes used as targets in practice exercises and converted to stationary uses, usually they are sold for scrapping, for the value of their steel and other materials ("Converted into razor blades").

With some scrappings the historical loss is very sad. HMS Belfast is a cool museum, but scrapping HMS Warspite? Several Essex class carriers are museums, but not preserving USS Enterprise? Several fast battleships of the three classes are museums, but none of the BBs resurrected from Pearl Harbor mud?

[ironhorsedriver]

They haven't even figured out how to scrap Enterprise yet. She's still tied up in Newport News.

[mikezpen]

Scrapping of the Enterprise...tragic. Saratoga used as A-bomb target.

One note: Elvis donated some concert revenues to finish the funding of the Arizona Memorial.

[rangerrebew]

The ship I served aboard, the USS Ranger was the seventh to be named Ranger.  The first was John Paul Jones' ship which flew the American flag as it entered port in France and was recognized as being a ship from a new country, the first time the flag was so recognized.  She is now doing razor blade duty.

[ironhorsedriver]

The ship I served aboard, the USS Ranger was the seventh to be named Ranger.  The first was John Paul Jones' ship which flew the American flag as it entered port in France and was recognized as being a ship from a new country, the first time the flag was so recognized.  She is now doing razor blade duty.

Same with my two Ships, Coral Sea and Forrestal.

[Sled Dog]

Scrapping naval ships is not a new thing. While decommissioned ships are sometimes used as targets in practice exercises and converted to stationary uses, usually they are sold for scrapping, for the value of their steel and other materials ("Converted into razor blades").

With some scrappings the historical loss is very sad. HMS Belfast is a cool museum, but scrapping HMS Warspite? Several Essex class carriers are museums, but not preserving USS Enterprise? Several fast battleships of the three classes are museums, but none of the BBs resurrected from Pearl Harbor mud?

We have the Iowa (BB61) in San Pedro, the Midway in San Diego and the Hornet in San Fransissyco.   All well worth visiting and learning from.

San Fransissyco also has the old Pompanito (?) a WWII submarine.

For the Nimitz to end up as a museum, it needs a sponsor.   

[Sled Dog]

Scrapping an obsolete ship is a tragic thing, but one has to be realistic.   I was lucky, I guess, in that the ship I commissioned in 1982 became a moored training ship at the end of it's life and it's been modified and still in effective use today.

I had an intern leave my work and go through that program.  He sent me a hat.

[skeeter]

We have the Iowa (BB61) in San Pedro, the Midway in San Diego and the Hornet in San Fransissyco.   All well worth visiting and learning from.

San Fransissyco also has the old Pompanito (?) a WWII submarine.

For the Nimitz to end up as a museum, it needs a sponsor.   

Im a ‘plank owner’ of Hornet having contributed an amount to have her preserved back in the 90s. Money well spent, as the ship hosted many reunions of WWII guys, while they were still with us, including a Battle of Midway anniversary event. There I had a chance to meet and talk with many of those guys, a priceless experience.

[PeteS in CA]

We have the Iowa (BB61) in San Pedro, the Midway in San Diego and the Hornet in San Fransissyco.   All well worth visiting and learning from.

San Fransissyco also has the old Pompanito (?) a WWII submarine.

For the Nimitz to end up as a museum, it needs a sponsor.   

USS Pampanito is a museum in SF. USS Hornet is across the bay in Alameda. I've visited both. The Liberty ship Jeremiah O'Brien is in the same area as the Pampanito, and across the bay in Richmond is the Victory ship Red Oak Victory (near a facility that produced Victory ships).

The Iowa was moved from Suisun Bay to San Pedro relatively recently, and I think Midway also became a museum relatively recently (compared to the Hornet and Pampanito). I think 3 or 4 Essex class carriers are museums, as are 3 Iowa class battleships. But of the battleships between USS Texas (pre-"standard") and USS North Carolina, none. Of the surviving carriers on which USN aviation was developed, none. Zero pre-dreadnoughts.

I know, 20-20 geekasoid hindsight.

AFAIK, all museum ships have a non-government foundations that operate the museums.