Page 8. MAINE COASTAL NEWS January 2015 UNITED STATES NAVY NEWS


Navy Awards Contract for Ranger Dismantling


From Naval Sea Systems Command Offi ce of Corporate Communication


WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy award- ed a contract, Dec. 22, for the towing and dismantling of the decommissioned aircraft carrier Ranger (CV 61) to International Shipbreaking, Ltd.


Under the contract, the company will be paid $0.01, a price that refl ects the net price proposed by International Shipbreak- ing, Inc., which considered the estimated proceeds from the sale of the scrap metal to be generated from dismantling.


This is not a sales contract, it is a pro- curement contract; $0.01 is the lowest price the Navy could possibly have paid the con- tractor for towing and dismantling the ship. The ship will be towed from the Na-


vy’s inactive ships maintenance facility in Bremerton, Washington, to International Shipbreaking, Ltd.’s ship dismantling fa- cility in Brownsville, Texas, for complete dismantling and recycling.


The ship is expected to depart Bremer- ton via tow in January or February, and ar- rive in Brownsville after four to fi ve months. The ship is too large for passage through the Panama Canal and must be towed around South America.


Ranger was the third Forrestal-class aircraft carrier to be built. The ship was laid down Aug. 2, 1954, by Newport News Ship- building & Drydock Co., Newport News, Virginia, and commissioned at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Aug. 10, 1957. Ranger was the only ship of the Forrestal class to spend its entire career in the Pacifi c. The ship made a total of 22 Western Pacifi c deployments, was an active participant in the Vietnam War, and was the only West Coast-based carrier to deploy in support of Operation Desert Storm.


Ranger was decommissioned July 10, 1993, after more than 35 years of service. It served as a retention asset for potential future reactivation until stricken from the Naval Vessel Register, March 8, 2004, and redesigned for donation. After eight years on donation hold, the USS Ranger Foundation was unable to raise the necessary funds to convert the ship into a museum or to over- come the physical obstacles of transporting her up the Columbia River to Fairview, Or- egon. As a result, Ranger was removed from the list of ships available for dismantling and designated for dismantling.


While there are many veterans with strong desires that the Navy not scrap the


ship they served on, there were no states, municipalities or nonprofi t organizations with a viable plan seeking to save the ship. The Navy cannot donate a vessel unless the application fully meets the Navy’s minimum requirements for donation, and cannot retain inactive ships indefi nitely.


Washington Navy Yard NHHC Com- pletes Warehoused Artifacts Transfer From Naval History and Heritage Com- mand, Communication and Outreach Division


WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Washington Navy Yard Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) curators completed the transfer of previously warehoused artifacts to their new home in Richmond, Virginia, offi cials announced, Dec. 16.


The transfer is part of an ongoing project to consolidate more than 300,000 artifacts from warehouses at three different locations to their new collection manage- ment facility in Richmond. Some of the transferred artifacts are part of the headquar- ters collection and date back to the founding of the Republic.


The consolidation, now in the third of a projected 18-month move, allows the Navy to centrally locate the overwhelming ma- jority of its artifacts. The consolidation will translate to improved care, management, accountability and oversight of the collec- tion. The refurbished building in Richmond provides improved environmental controls for high-risk artifacts, proper shelving and storage, and an area for conserving and preserving the artifacts. NHHC offi cials said the artifact reloca- tion is a massive undertaking that demands the entire team of curators to focus its time and energy on the move. NHHC’s Curator Branch will continue to service existing artifact loans, currently numbering in excess of 1,500. Their ability to accept new donations and respond to in- quiries, however, will be slowed. The cura- tors have suspended processing requests for new artifact loans as they tackle the project, which requires signifi cant travel in support of preparing and managing the shipment of the vast holdings.


As massive as the move may be, it


doesn’t affect the National Museum of the U.S. Navy which remains at its current location at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. The museum recently opened its Cold War exhibit and another featuring the War of 1812 entitled, “From Defeat to Victory.”


Fallen veterans honored during Arlington wreath laying event.


The museum is open to the public Mon- day through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for most holidays. The museum is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Tours can be arranged for schools or other groups by calling (202) 433-6826. Visitors must have a Department of Defense common access card; an active mil- itary, retired military or military dependent ID; or, an escort with one of these credentials to enter the Washington Navy Yard. All visitors 18 and older must have a photo ID. Contact the museum for help accessing the facility at (202) 433-4882. The Display Ship Barry, which is a separate entity from the museum, is closed for the season and its 2015 schedule has not yet been released. Information about the ship may be found on the museum’s website at http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/ org8-1.htm. To contact the ship, call (202) 433-3377 or (202) 433-6115.


Fallen Veterans Honored During Arling- ton Wreath-Laying Event By Ensign Michelle Tucker, Defense Media Activity


ARLINGTON, Va. (NNS) -- Service members, veterans, and civilian volunteers placed more than 200,000 holiday wreaths on the graves of America’s fallen heroes at Arlington National Cemetery on National Wreaths Across America Day, Dec. 13. The holiday wreath-laying event was


sponsored by Wreaths Across America, a non-profi t organization that coordinates similar ceremonies at veterans’ cemeteries


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across the United States, at sea, and at na- tional cemeteries on foreign soil. Lead volunteers gathered pre-dawn at the amphitheater behind the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and two Marine Heli- copter Squadron 1 helicopters fl ew over the cemetery at 9:30 a.m., to signal the beginning of the event. Volunteers lined up behind 65 trucks spread across the cemetery to distribute the wreaths. Within around two hours almost every tombstone in the cemetery was adorned with a wreath as the smell of fresh pine needles fi lled the cold, winter air. Some volunteers said they participated to pay respect to all veterans, while others visited to remember individual family members.


Navy veteran Steve Markwood served as a sonar technician aboard destroyer USS New (DD-818), and volunteered to place wreaths with his co-workers and family. Jimmy Shaw was one of the volunteers who helped make the event possible by driving his truck full of wreaths 787 miles from a nursery in Maine for the event. “It was an honor driving the truck, knowing where I was going,” said Shaw, an Army veteran who served in the infantry. “It means a lot for the families who have lost their loved ones; the Soldiers who have sacrifi ced so much for this great country of ours.”


Continued on Page 21.


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