And soon there will be none - at least not as we knew them.
The US Navy has turned USS EMORY S. LAND over to MSC
Last reported to be headed for Diego Garcia.
USS FRANK CABLE was turned over to MSC February 1st.
So far - there has been little "visible" change in the operation of Cable - other than the awarding of a "conversion" contract. Cable will be operated the same way as Land, making three US Navy ships turned over to MSC and operated with "Hybrid" crews.
ALL of the ships of the ghost fleet at Suisun will be removed by 2017.
Most of them will be disposed by scrapping - with the first two already "in transit". This puts Fulton (AS 12), Nereus (AS 17) and Holland (AS 32) at great risk of being cut up in the very near future.
ESCO Marine has been contracted by the U.S. Navy to scrap USS L. Y. Spear AS 36 -
she will be towed from Portsmouth to Brownsville, Texas sometime in the next two weeks (barring unforseen issues).
According to the February 2010 report to Congress by the Director, Warfare Integration, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations - both USS Simon Lake (AS 33) and USS Frank McKee (AS 41) have been designated for dismantling sometime in the FYDP (Future Year's Defense Plan).
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