11bee Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 After managing to get grounded on a reef in one of the Philippine's most sensitive environmental areas, the US Navy has decided that the 244' USS Guardian is a total loss and will be scrapped in place to avoid inflicting even more damage on the reef and associated rare wildlife. The area is a Philippine national park and a UNESCO World Heritage site. This is turning into a serious problem between the countries as it is being claimed that the US ship never had permission to be in the area and violated other protocols applicable to operating in this nature preserve. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/world/asia/us-navy-to-scrap-vessel-stuck-on-philippine-reef.html?hp Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TaiidanTomcat Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Minesweepers go where the danger is. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JasonW Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 With a wooden hull that has been battered I'm pretty sure it was the only real option. Still, at $277 million that is quite a hit to taxpayers pocket books. As the Philippine government is asking, what the heck was it doing there in the first place? Oh, right, clearing mines off the coral reef...... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Horrido Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I've heard minesweepers compared to engineering units: nobody wants to spend money or time on them, but when you need them, they are in desperately short supply. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Phantom ordie Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Get out the chain saw. :o :o :o :o :o :o :o Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zerosystem Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 cutting the fleet of them to just 13... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfgun33 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Can I have it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JasonW Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Can I have it? :woot.gif:/> Sure, for the amazing price of 277 million dollars it's all yours (maybe we'll allow for some depreciation)......And If you can get it off the reef in one piece and seaworthy..... Oh, and without causing any further damage to the reef..... And after paying the fine the Philippine government is ready to levy against the US..... (Let me think, did I forget anything....) :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 What are Chinooks for anyway? Just pick it up and move it out to sea. Seems pretty straightforward to me. Okay, maybe two Chinooks. Or two Mi-26s, one on each end. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JasonW Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 What are Chinooks for anyway? Just pick it up and move it out to sea. Seems pretty straightforward to me. Okay, maybe two Chinooks. Or two Mi-26s, one on each end. Uh J, the thing weighs 1312 tons....... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cvrle Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 There's actually quite a number of Sea Cranes that can lift that much, but I guess they might not have a shallow enough draught to get close and just lift the damn thing... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neo Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 I knwo the feeling we got stuck with our sail boat in Los Roques venezuela cuz a genius marked the map between two island has 30ft of water.... it was closer to 3ft took the hole day to get out of that mess almost lost the boat Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neo Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Sure, for the amazing price of 277 million dollars it's all yours (maybe we'll allow for some depreciation)...... And If you can get it off the reef in one piece and seaworthy..... the article say its no longer seaworthy Commander Stockman said. The decision was also a pragmatic one, as the vessel is no longer seaworthy, he added. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
echolmberg Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Sure, for the amazing price of 277 million dollars it's all yours (maybe we'll allow for some depreciation)...... But once you drive it off the lot, it's only worth about $200,000,000.00. Eric Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zerosystem Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 the article say its no longer seaworthy another article from miliary.com said that they had to add seawater ballast once fuel and oil were removed so one might come to the conclusion that she is buoyant enough but there might be other powers at work... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ross blackford Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 :D, When was this ship built? A minesweeper with a wooden hull? I just thought all modern minesweepers these days had fibreglass hulls; I know all the ones built here in the last 30 or so years have had FG hulls. It just seems unusual to me for a modern warship to have a wooden hull. , Ross. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zerosystem Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 :D/>, When was this ship built? A minesweeper with a wooden hull? I just thought all modern minesweepers these days had fibreglass hulls; I know all the ones built here in the last 30 or so years have had FG hulls. It just seems unusual to me for a modern warship to have a wooden hull. :cheers:/>, Ross. wood covered in fiberglass. doesn't do much good to have metal near mines... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ross blackford Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 :D, Hi zerosystem, I'm aware that metal near mines is no good. What I was alluding to is that I don't think there is any wood in our minesweepers, they're double fibreglass moulded hulls or hull modules with ribs moulded in between the skins that are then joined together to build up the hull. , Ross. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve N Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 another article from miliary.com said that they had to add seawater ballast once fuel and oil were removed so one might come to the conclusion that she is buoyant enough but there might be other powers at work... I would assume they did that just to keep her stabilized in place. If she were lightened she might become bouyant enough to be washed off the reef and promplty sink due to hull damage, or washed further onto the reef and be more difficult to remove. SN Quote Link to post Share on other sites
-Neu- Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 :D/>, When was this ship built? A minesweeper with a wooden hull? I just thought all modern minesweepers these days had fibreglass hulls; I know all the ones built here in the last 30 or so years have had FG hulls. It just seems unusual to me for a modern warship to have a wooden hull. :cheers:/>, Ross. It was built between 89 to 94 I think. Bit of a coincidence... I was reading into the class just a few months ago, because the Navy was considering replacing them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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