Ukrainian Navy

[Hawkmoon]

Seems the Ukrainians once had a navy -- and the Russians stole most of it.

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/russia-reportedly-seizes-51-ukrainian-ships-in-crimea-340929.html

We have a whole bunch of ships berthed in a couple of mothball fleets. The prevailing theory/philosophy/fiction is that they are supposed to be "maintained" in something akin to functionality, although not outright readiness. I think the truth is that they just rot there until we sell (or give) them to ship breakers.

So why don't we sell a bunch of them to Ukraine for a couple of hryvnas each?

Do we have any submarines in the mothball fleet? There must be a few destroyers and such, and I know there are three or four smaller aircraft carriers in the Washington fleet.

[Ron]

Russian control/access to the port in Crimea is part of the reason for this whole episode, from what I understand.

[Hutch]

Unless we sell them the swabbies (or zoomies, in the case of the CV's) to go with them, they would not be useful to them for months, if not years.

[Hawkmoon]

Unless we sell them the swabbies (or zoomies, in the case of the CV's) to go with them, they would not be useful to them for months, if not years.

Even with swabbies, they would certainly need work to be operational again. But a lot less work (and less time) than building new warships from the keel up.

From Wikipedia:

Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facilities

A Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) is a facility owned by the U.S. Navy as a holding facility for decommissioned naval vessels, pending determination of their final fate. All ships in these facilities are inactive, but some are still on the Naval Vessel Register, while others have been struck from that Register.
Philadelphia

The Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility holds several dozen inactive warships, including the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy, Ticonderoga class cruisers, Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates, numerous supply ships, and a submarine.
Bremerton

The Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, located next to Bremerton, Washington hosts, among its other ships, four aircraft carriers: USS Ranger, Independence, Kitty Hawk, and Constellation,.[10] two dozen decommissioned submarines, several frigates, and numerous supply ships, It is the former home of the nuclear cruiser USS Long Beach which was scrapped.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_reserve_fleets

So there we go: aircraft carriers, frigates, cruisers, and submarines. Not state-of-the-art, but not a bad start as a navy for a small country. And probably equal to whatever they had that the Russians appropriated.

[fifth_column]

Seems the Ukrainians once had a navy -- and the Russians stole most of it.

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/russia-reportedly-seizes-51-ukrainian-ships-in-crimea-340929.html

We have a whole bunch of ships berthed in a couple of mothball fleets. The prevailing theory/philosophy/fiction is that they are supposed to be "maintained" in something akin to functionality, although not outright readiness. I think the truth is that they just rot there until we sell (or give) them to ship breakers.

So why don't we sell a bunch of them to Ukraine for a couple of hryvnas each?

Do we have any submarines in the mothball fleet? There must be a few destroyers and such, and I know there are three or four smaller aircraft carriers in the Washington fleet.

It's a good idea, and to answer the question:  Because that would require the administration to take sides.  Taking sides would cause hurt feelings.  Hurt feelings are something that big meanies cause, not nice little bunny-loving administrations like ours . . .