Ex-USS Ranger Has Seen Better Days – Drone Video

[kham]

From gCaptain

She still looks like one big solid chunk of steel; the prop on her aft deck would be a hell of a lawn ornament

[Mynock]

That would actually be a cool Idea. Can't save the whole thing for obvious reasons but some of the more indestructible maintenance free parts like the prop or the anchor could go in a nice memorial garden.
If I were Bill Gates rich I'd buy it and trick it out as a personal Yacht.
"Oh your yacht has a swimming pool? That's nice. I was going to put one of those in but then I would've had no place to park the Gulfstream."

[DangerGirl]

There's some misguided talk about using the remaining retired carriers at Bremerton as pontoons for a road bridge across Sinclair Inlet, between Bremerton and Port Orchard.

[kham]

Yes, I saw that one DG; was a bit of a DAFUQ moment

They really just have no grasp on the laws of physics and reality any more, do they?

[jadokast98]

I was watching"Top Gun" after this was posted.

It would suck so much if the Chinese were to get one of our carriers. They bought a Russian one (Varyag?)and are testing it (were last year.) Stealing "scrap" would be difficult to get away with, but... reflag as soon as it is in their possession and it becomes a huge political mess too. What says "they" can't have a special ops team board it at night? Take all sorts of digital pics and have them out in 45 min? 15 min would be enough to get a rough idea on layout. How secure is the berthing location for scrapping? (Sounds like a good book actually.)

[schlamm]

I know her inside and out having been a crew member...the Kitty Hawk and Constellation as well.
The Ranger has a relatively new bow and a lot of new steel on the starboard side, seems carriers aren't made to cut a fully loaded freighter in half in the middle of the night....but she did just that and came home to tell the tale

[kham]

Dont believe everything you read about the ChiComs, they aint nowhere near as good as they made out to be. You could let them steal Ranger and it would make no difference. The trick in naval aviation is operating the air wing without killing yourself. That's taken the USN north of a century, and bad stuff still happens. Likewise the French, who really are the only other competition for operating jet aircraft at sea. And they have pulled some boners in the last decade alone (building your new supercarrier with design flaws, and having it's idea of flank speed incapable of generating sufficient wind over the deck to launch is something some froggy designer should have been losing his head over.... )

[Mynock]

They don't have the logistics, they don't have the allies, 50% of their economy is based on making the shit we buy and they import 25% of their food from us. They start a fight, we start an embargo and within a month they're starving and poor. Dragon? Ha......more than a bad tempered iguana living in a terrarium we made for it.

[kham]

Not to mention Japan has been quietly upgrading and increasing their armed forces, as well as being smart economically. And engaging in forming alliances across the region to counter any increasing threats from the ChiComs. Japan, never has been dumb

[YerK]

Imagine the heartbreak you would feel if you'd ever been her CO and saw that video.