We have no idea why it's taking so long to scrap her out - we're trying to find out - but considering they started on her before ESCO started on Proteus - and Proteus was completed more than a year ago - we can't help but wonder if there is some "issue"... What ever the reason - she's still (as of February 15, 2010) afloat.

Here is a picture from that date:

With the "settlement" of the Federal Law Suits over the ships stored at Suisun - those ships are going to be scrapped as fast as possible. I think any chance Sperry (and / or Nereus) had of becoming a donation (museum) ship is now nil. Expect them to be stablized" and moved to scappers ASAP. Unfortunately - Holland is among them - and most likely to suffer the same fate - on the same fast track.

USS L. Y. Spear has been towed from Inactive Ships at Portmouth - headed for ESCO Marine for scrapping. We'll report when we received confirmation of her arrival there. Several videos of the move have been posted to YouTube - Search on USS Spear.

So what about Lake and McKee? They are still at Portsmouth, but we now have confirmation the Navy intends to change that and likely sooner than later. In the "Report to Congress on Annual Long-Range Plan for Construction of Naval Vessels for FY 2011" prepared by the Director, Warfare Integration, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations - there is a section which discusses ships to be deactivated and the planned disposition of those ships as well as ships already inactivated and in storage. In that section, the report notes that USS Simon Lake (AS 33) and USS McKee (AS 41) have been declared excess by the Navy - and due to costs, environmental concerns, etc. - the preferred disposal method for both ships is to contract for their dismantling and recycling. While this plan is part of the the Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) which covers (in the short term) the years 2011 - 2020; the report also states "The Navy recognizes that environmental and safety risks increase as inactive ships deteriorate and their disposal is delayed. The longer retired ships sit in the inactive ship inventory, the higher the environmental risks and disposal costs." In view of this - and considering what they just went through in legal problems with the Suisun site - we anticipate the Navy will scrap Lake and McKee ASAP.

There has been little evidence of the hand over so far - Cable continues to operate at Guam as it has for the last several years. However - things are about to change - as the Department of Defense awarded a contract on March 11, 2010 to Guam Industrial Services, Inc., dba Guam Shipyard, Santa Rita, Guam. The $10,404,769 firm-fixed-price contract calls for the civilian modifications of the Military Sealift Command (MSC) submarine tender USS Frank Cable. The ship requires maintenance and repair, as well as modifications including the installation of equipment and systems for operation by MSC civil service mariners in keeping with U.S. merchant marine standards. The modifications are to better equip the vessel for MSC’s reduced manning profile. 

Note the statement that the ship's current accommodations are OK for U.S. sailors, but not up to the standards of the U. S. Merchant Marines?  Yet "the ship" will be operated by MSC Merchant Marines (in their "standards quarters, etc.") while the technical work of fixing the Navy's highly technical and complex military equipment will be done by U.S. Navy Sailors in their (to MSC standards) sub-standard quarters, etc. [Opinion: I'm sure that's a formulae for harmonious relations and cooperation. Right!]

This will leave NO active fully US Navy manned Submarine Tender left - anywhere in the world. Both tenders - USS EMORY S. LAND and USS FRANK CABLE will be operated by MSC (Military Sealift Command) - using what the Navy calls a "hybrid crew" of CIVMAR (Civilian Merchant Marines) and Navy technicians under the command of a Navy Captain.

I guess it was inevitable. We've seen it coming - it became obvious a few years ago - the Navy was hell-bent on getting rid of all Auxiliaries. Think I'm nuts? Over reacting? Try these facts on for size:

At the end of WWII - the US Navy had 1267 auxiliary ships active.

By 1950 that number was reduced to 218 - a level which was maintained (plus or minus a dozen ships) through 1968.

The Navy notes "The dramatic fall in ship numbers after 1968-1969 is due to the decision to limit the use of American military force in Vietnam and the decommissioning of many WWII-era ships." This reduction was across the board.

By 1978 the number of auxiliaries had fallen to 113 - a level which was maintained (plus or minus a dozen ships) through 1993.

Between 1994 and 1997 the number of auxiliaries was cut in half - to 52 - which level was maintained from 1998 - 2004.

2005 saw only 45 auxiliaries in service - a level which has been maintained since.

However something should be noted here: Many of the remaining auxiliaries - though shown as "Navy ships" in the NVR - are in fact in the possession of - and operated by others. For instance - several Oceanic research vessels and similar are in the custody of - and operated by universities (such as the University of Hawaii). While such ships are undoubtedly providing good service and value to the Navy - they aren't in direct support of Naval operations. And of course USS Pueblo AGER-2 is still a commissioned auxiliary. Think the North Koreans would let us take her out for some research? (Don't get me started on that subject!!!!). Point being - the "fleet" of traditional service (repair) auxiliaries has been slowly but thoroughly dismantled.

When I started TenderTale - there were still a large number of active support auxiliaries - including 5 submarine tenders - though HOLLAND was decommissioned that same year - leaving 4 Submarine Tenders. McKee and Lake both decommissioned before the end of 1999 - and sitting doing nothing in Portsmouth (why in the world they don't send one or both to relieve some of the pressure off New London is beyond me).

It seems now - that the final chapter in the history of Submarine Tenders in the United States Navy has been written. With both Land and Cable turned over to MSC - our interest - and coverage of them - ends.

MARAD: After years of inaction by the Navy and MARAD; protests and lawsuits by environmentalist, an agreement was reached March 30th, 2010 that will result in the elimination of "The Ghost Fleet" from Suisun Bay. 20 of the worst ships will be cleaned and made ready for recycling by the end of 2012- the rest by 2017. The upshot is that the three remaining sub tenders at Suisun will all be scrapped (or otherwise disposed of) within seven years - if not sooner.

All Tenders held by MARAD at James River recently (USS Howard W. Gilmore (AS 16); USS Orion (AS 18) and USS Hunley (AS-31)) have been scrapped (though Hunley's scrapping is still underway as noted above.

It's likely very obvious that I haven't been able to devote as much time to TenderTale as I'd like. I'm not going to make excuses - there are just so many hours in a day - and sometimes we have to do some things - when we'd really much rather doing something else. Several projects remain unfinished - and there still a lot of other clean-up tidy-up things that just go begging. I'd hoped for some help - but so far other than some updates, etc. (for which I am VERY grateful!) - no one has stepped up. So I'll continue to do what I can - when I can.

The photos for this section have been re-scanned and presented at a much larger scale. With the increase in bandwidth available to most people - download times are not the problem they used to be - so - the quality and size of the pictures on TenderTale will all eventually be brought to the same level as these.

Also - remember - these are old pictures - MANY ships are being removed very quickly - and information is painfully difficult to get out of anyone involved (the courts may have something to do with that - as part of the recent settlement of several law suits over these ships). Suisun looks very different today - and will likely be even more deserted tomorrow (or the next day).

Sept. 9 to 12, 2010
Sheraton Airport Hotel
Charleston , SC

Crewmembers that served on the AS-34 and AS-9,
and supporting Marine detachments,
SUBRONs, ARDMs, ASRs are invited to our reunion on .  

Details: Richard Retin
2245 Wintercreek Way SE
Salem , OR 97306

(503) 689-1712,

Sept. 9 to 12, 2010
Sheraton Airport Hotel
Charleston , SC

Crewmembers that served on the AS-34 and AS-9,
and supporting Marine detachments,
SUBRONs, ARDMs, ASRs are invited to our reunion on .  

Details: Richard Retin
2245 Wintercreek Way SE
Salem , OR 97306

(503) 689-1712,