the last Light Aircraft Carrier

[Olefin]

FYI I have looked at several websites and have found photos of her when she arrived in New Orleans - and what arrived was a useable ship that arrived under her own power and in good condition - she appeared to be well maintained and in good condition upon arrival in 1989 - https://delange.org/CabotR/CabotR.htm

[The Dark]

Actually if it's in the reserve fleet it would probably be kept in a decent state, they have a significant maintenance program to ensure the ships can be put back into service. That's not to say that every ship in the reserve fleet would be seaworthy, some of the oldest ones are getting a bit "thin in the hull"

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/dot/ndrf.htm

What the global security writeup does infer though is that the longer a ship has be sitting in the reserve fleet, the greater the likelihood it will be scrapped or sunk (as artificial reefs)

It depends - the JRRF (and the NRDF in general) has both "retain" and "non-retain" ships, and the latter get just enough work done to keep them from sinking before they can be scrapped. The Sturgis (a former nuclear power barge built from a Liberty ship) was overhauled twice in fifty years - once when she first went into the JRRF in 1967 and again in the 1990s when they wanted to evaluate the decay rate of residual radioactive contamination. She just went to the breakers this year. A light carrier would likely get similar treatment, since it would be considered of low value compared to the nuclear fleet carriers, and pretty much anything it can do could be done as well or better by a Tarawa, Iwo Jima, or Wasp.

[Olefin]

except for two factors on this particular light carrier

she had been in active service until 1989 and was delivered in working condition with fully serviced engines, navigation gear, etc.. - she wasnt towed into port in late 1989 she was sailed in by a full crew of Spanish sailors

and she went into drydock and came out in 1993 with a fully blasted and painted hull, asbestos removed on several decks and otherwise worked on

this isnt a ship thats been sitting around in the Reserve Fleet since the 1950's or Vietnam - she was flying sorties as late as August 1989

[The Dark]

except for two factors on this particular light carrier

she had been in active service until 1989 and was delivered in working condition with fully serviced engines, navigation gear, etc.. - she wasnt towed into port in late 1989 she was sailed in by a full crew of Spanish sailors

and she went into drydock and came out in 1993 with a fully blasted and painted hull, asbestos removed on several decks and otherwise worked on

this isnt a ship thats been sitting around in the Reserve Fleet since the 1950's or Vietnam - she was flying sorties as late as August 1989

Yeah, I conflated two topics into one - the Gage, which was sitting around in the Reserve Fleet since the 1950s, and the original topic of the Cabot (which was only ever in reserve from 2-11-47 to 10-27-48). Mea culpa.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

To be fair to The Dark though, I had made a general statement regarding the reserve fleet and his answer was in response to that.

[mcchordsage]

These type of ships would be used as the basis and I am sure more modern ones were in the works to serve as Escort Carriers of WWIII. The Navy has practically had several of these ships used to carry Marine landing forces, don't recall the name of the vessels, but they too could be press into Escort Carrier type service too.

In the Persian Gulf they could be used as staging asset for the Heli-borne forces. In and around Korea for the same reason and in the North Sea and Baltic Sea in support of the protecting Marine units in those areas.

Almost a decade later, but that would've been the Thetis Bay. CVE to an LPH while the USMC was monkeying around with at-sea ready forces in the late 50s and early 60s.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Speaking of Aircraft carriers, I was reading The RDF Sourcebook and noted that there's a whole (small) carrier battle group still standing and operational, built around the LHA-3 Bellau Wood. The book notes that its air wing stands at 3 UH-60s, however, it (and its sister ships) are still active and protect oil transports going to the US, moving troops around, etc.

There's at least 2 USMC air wings in the region as well with operational Harriers; if "carrier" ops were needed, the resources are right there.

(note LHA-3 and her sister ships are oil-fueled steam turbine ships).

Anyway, thought that was pretty interesting.

[Raellus]

Container Ship-Carrier Conversions

This is a bit of tangent, but I wouldn't be surprised to see container ships converted to ersatz escort carriers during WWIII. I seem to remember reading that both the U.S./UK had contingency plans to do just that during the Cold War. Essentially, on the said container ships, you lay runway matting over a single layer of shipping containers. The containers contain workshops, spare parts, weaponry, etc. The matting acts as a makeshift landing pad for helicopters and/or STOL/VTOL aircraft.

The idea is to provide convoys with ASW protection, without dedicating fleet carriers or amphibs to the task. I suppose that such a conversion vessel could also provide air support to amphib operations.

IIRC, during the 1982 Falklands war, a container ship (the Atlantic Conveyor or similar vessel) was used as a floating base for Sea King and Wessex transport helicopters).

I suppose a container ship runway could be used to launch STOL turboprop light attack aircraft such as OV-10 Broncos and/or A-1 Skyraiders, as well as Harrier jump jets.

IIRC, there's a thread about the above somewhere around here.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

This is a bit of tangent, but I wouldn't be surprised to see container ships converted to ersatz escort carriers during WWIII. I seem to remember reading that both the U.S./UK had contingency plans to do just that during the Cold War. Essentially, on the said container ships, you lay runway matting over a single layer of shipping containers. The containers contain workshops, spare parts, weaponry, etc. The matting acts as a makeshift landing pad for helicopters and/or STOL/VTOL aircraft.

The idea is to provide convoys with ASW protection, without dedicating fleet carriers or amphibs to the task. I suppose that such a conversion vessel could also provide air support to amphib operations.

IIRC, during the 1982 Falklands war, a container ship (the Atlantic Conveyor or similar vessel) was used as a floating base for Sea King and Wessex transport helicopters).

I suppose a container ship runway could be used to launch STOL turboprop light attack aircraft such as OV-10 Broncos and/or A-1 Skyraiders, as well as Harrier jump jets.

IIRC, there's a thread about the above somewhere around here.

SCADS, although at the moment I can't recall what the acronym stood for.

[mcchordsage]

SCADS, although at the moment I can't recall what the acronym stood for.

Shipborne Containerized Air Defense Systems Containerized system to deliver the needed supplies to convert a container ship for Harrier operations. Was an early 1980s effort I think.

[copeab]

Reminds of early in WWII where some British merchant ships were fitted with a catapult-launched Hurricane for use against German Fw 200 Condors acting as spotters for U-boats. The Hurricanes were usually successful in driving off the Condors, but later finding the convoy so the pilot could ditch nearby (the ships had no way of recovering the aircraft) was a bit tricky ...

[mpipes]

I have been told part of the Cabot debacle was because the museum's board hired a goofball to command the ship with a made up resume as a retired navy Captain. By the time they realized he was a nut case and had no idea what he was doing A LOT of damage due to his incompetent neglect and bungled repairs/maintenance/conversion work had been inflicted on the ship. They were never able to crawl out of the hole he left in the budget to get her in any kind of shape for museum tours.

I understand the Navy was extremely pissed, because they had recommended several officers for the job that the board ignored for the guy they selected, who apparently had some political pull with someone on the board. There may have been a lawsuit filed by some of the investors...not sure.

[rcaf_777]

Shipborne Containerized Air Defense Systems

Shipborne Containerized Air Defense Systems

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Shipborne Containerized Air Defense Systems Containerized system to deliver the needed supplies to convert a container ship for Harrier operations. Was an early 1980s effort I think.

Shipborne Containerized Air Defense Systems

Yes, that's it exactly. Thank you both.

[The Dark]

The American equivalent was ARAPAHO, which looked to outfit containers with ASW electronics and load 6 to 8 helicopters or Harriers on board, taking up about 30% of the cargo space of (then-current) container ships to convert them to ASW carriers/convoy escorts. When tested (by the Royal Navy) on RFA Reliant off Lebanon in 1984, the lack of watertightness proved to be a problem; helicopters had to be washed down twice daily to prevent salt corrosion, and despite being in the (relatively calm) Mediterranean, the hangar was often awash in 2-3 inches of salt water from spray and rolling.