What's Wrong With Our Ships?

“There’s something wrong with our bloody ships today!” This was an observation by British Admiral David Beatty as he watched his thin-skinned battle-cruisers being mauled at the Battle of Jutland in 1916. A similar description could be made at the cost of current US warships. Since the demise of the Soviet Navy in the early 1990’s, the price of new ships has increased so dramatically as to be unaffordable in the required numbers. As a result the US Fleet has declined to less than half its Cold War high in the 1980’s of 600.

This is a phenomena occurring in the price of all types of American warships. In the 90’s the US Navy planned to replace all its carriers, destroyers, and submarines with less costly versions designed for littoral, or coastal operations. So what is the military buying today to replace our Cold War, blue water fleet? The CVN-21 aircraft carrier which is 3 times the Nimitz class, the DDX destroyer also 3 times the older Burke class, and the supposedly smaller and slower Virginia attack subs costing as much as the bigger and faster Seawolf class it is replacing.

As new and fast catamarans, robot planes, and foot soldiers fight the War on Terror, the carriers, destroyers, nuclear attack subs are waiting for the great war at sea that may never come. Meanwhile fewer and fewer are being bought with precious funds that could be put to better use fighting an enemy without set armies, navies, and air forces.