In July of this year, the American Goodman Richard was upgraded in the Port of San Diego. The upgrade was not successful. Instead, a fire broke out. It burned for five days and became "Dead Richard." ". Just recently, the U.S. Navy decided to retire this quasi-aircraft carrier that was burned to an empty shell by the fire, and it is expected to be completely dismantled next.
This fire is known as the worst fire in the history of the U.S. Navy. Naval officers said that about 60% of all kinds of equipment need to be replaced in order to repair the ship completely. It takes 5 to 7 years. Cost 2.5 billion to 3.2 billion US dollars. This price seems to be too high. The budget for a new ship is about 4.1 billion US dollars. It is better to build a new ship directly. In fact, the relevant assessment agency has given other ideas besides complete restoration, such as transforming this ship into a ship with other functions. For example, during the epidemic, the U.S. military used a medical ship directly transformed from an oil tanker, but it was approved by relevant naval departments. The budget shows that this would also cost US$1 billion, which is more expensive than building a brand-new medical ship. When facing reporters, the commander of the Naval Logistics Maintenance Center said that even if it chooses to scrap it, it will cost at least 30 million U.S. dollars, and it will take 9 to 12 months. Z1z
, no matter whether it is repairing or scrapping, there is actually a key-cleaning the hull. But when the Goodman Richard was on fire, not only was there no damage management personnel on the ship and the navy and other departments to carry out rescue activities for the first time, but when the local fire brigade arrived at the second time, when they entered the hull to put out the fire. In the event of personal injury, he immediately chose to abandon further actions, and very unprofessional choice to use seawater to extinguish fires, resulting in accelerated corrosion of the deck by seawater. The spread of the fire has caused a variety of toxic and hazardous substances to appear in the hull. According to calculations by relevant agencies, it will cost tens of millions of dollars to clean the hull alone.
However, the U.S. Navy is fortunate that once the Goodman Richard is officially scrapped, no matter how it is, the U.S. Navy can apply to the U.S. Congress for funds to build a new ship, and the oil and water in it It can be said to be very rich. The 2018 U.S. military corruption case is a lesson learned. The $1,200 coffee pot, the $10,000 toilet seat, and the $16,571 small refrigerator are all listed on the purchase list. Not to mention the cost of a toilet cleaning service on the Ford aircraft carrier is as high as 400,000. Dollars.
Now the U.S. shipbuilding industry no longer looks like the American hegemon in World War II, both in terms of construction strength and scientific research capabilities. We even thought that this kind of fire would only happen in the Indian army, but when the opponent fails, we China will instead. Rising to catch up, the Chinese Navy launched 200,000 tons of warships with a total displacement of 200,000 tons in 2019, which is getting stronger year by year, breaking the world record of six shield ships launched by the US Navy in 1992.
The painful lesson of the American Goodman Richard amphibious assault ship is the best portrayal of the transfer of American manufacturing. In the past ten years, the number of closed shipyards in the United States has increased to 35. The so-called "shipping is national transportation", now look at the United States. The country’s national transport has already gone downhill. If China continues to maintain its annual output of 10 shield ships, will the US military dare to clamor in the surrounding waters in the future?
