ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has determined its planned ship retirement schedule for fiscal 2022. The list includes 22 ships, including 15 battle force ships.
In a July 2 administrative message, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations announced the plans to decommission 19 ship ships from the fleet and remove from service three ships from the Military Sealift Command.
The list includes two Los Angeles-class attack submarines (SSNs); seven Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers (CGs); five Cyclone-class coastal patrol ships (PCs) and four littoral combat ships (LCSs) — three Freedom-class and one Independence-class LCS. The PCs are forward deployed to the Persian Gulf; they are not considered battle force ships.
The Navy is proposing to retire seven Ticonderoga-class CGs during fiscal 2022, including two — USS Hue City and USS Anzio — which were not previously planned for retirement. The material condition of the cruisers’ hull and mechanical systems has attracted considerable concern while the cost of keeping the cruisers in service has risen.
Vice Adm. Jim Kilby, deputy chief of naval operations for Warfighting Requirements and Capabilities, testified June 17 before the Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee that retaining the seven CGs would cost roughly $5 billion across the Future Years Defense Plan. Retaining the ships for two years would cost more than $2.87 billion. He said the cost to modernize Hue City and Anzio alone would cost approximately $1.5 billion.
Extending the service lives of the cruisers “is costing more than we thought it would be,” he said. “Initially it was $2.4 billion, but we’re adding a lot of money to do that.”
The proposed cruiser retirements have been criticized by some in Congress as antithetical to growing the fleet to meet the demands of great power competition.
The decommissioning of some littoral combat ships also has attracted congressional attention, given that they are relatively new ships.
Congressional mark-ups of defense bills may challenge some of the proposed retirements.
The ships to be retired and the dates in 2022 by which they scheduled for retirement are listed below:
Ship Name Projected Inactivation Inactive Status
(All dates in 2022 except where noted)
USS Tempest (PC 2) March 29 Foreign Military Sales
USS Typhoon (PC5) March 14 Foreign Military Sales
USS Squall (PC 7) April 10 Foreign Military Sales
USS Firebolt (PC 10) March 1 Foreign Military Sales
USS Whirlwind (PC 11) April 24 Foreign Military Sales
USS San Jacinto (CG 56) Sept. 30 Reserve
USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) March 31 Reserve
USS Monterey (CG 61) Feb. 22 Reserve
USS Hue City (CG 66) March 31 Reserve
USS Anzio (CG 68) March 31 Reserve
USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) Feb. 18 Reserve
USS Port Royal (CG 73) March 31 Reserve
USS Fort Worth (LCS 3 March 31 Reserve
USS Coronado (LCS 4) March 31 Reserve
USS Detroit (LCS 7) March 31 Reserve
USS Little Rock (LCS 9) March 31 Reserve
USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41) April 30 Reserve
USS Providence (SSN 719) Dec. 2 (2021) Recycle
USS Oklahoma City (SSN 723) June 21 Recycle
USNS Apache (T-ATF 172) June 30 Disposal
USNS 1st LT Harry L. Martin (T-AK 2015) Dec. 30 Disposal
USNS LCPL Roy M. Wheat (T-AK 3016) Dec. 31 Disposal
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