The Patriot Files Forums  

Go Back   The Patriot Files Forums > Military News > International

Post New Thread  Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 02-03-2023, 11:08 AM
Boats's Avatar
Boats Boats is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Sauk Village, IL
Posts: 21,784
Unhappy Forsaken ‘ghost’ ship to be sunk on the high seas, Brazilian navy says. Here’s why R

Forsaken ‘ghost’ ship to be sunk on the high seas, Brazilian navy says. Here’s why
By: Brendan Rascius - The Bellingham Herald - 02-03-23
Re: https://www.bellinghamherald.com/new...272048642.html

Photo link: https://pics.mcclatchyinteractive.co...768/Ghost-ship
A decommissioned aircraft carrier will be sunk by the Brazilian navy, officials said. Photo from Navios de Guerra Brasileiros
Also; Read more at: https://www.bellinghamherald.com/new...#storylink=cpy

An aircraft carrier that was once a formidable flagship is now little more than a floating hunk of scrap with just one voyage left to undertake: a trip to the bottom of the sea.

The decommissioned ship, called the São Paulo, is critically damaged, and the Brazilian government has “no alternative” but to sink it, according to a Feb. 1 statement from the navy.

The scuttling of the São Paulo, a 32,000-ton behemoth, will follow a 60-year naval career marked by adventure, mishap and rapid decline, according to several naval historians.

Commissioned by the French government in the 1960s, the São Paulo — then called the Foch — was a “major French naval presence for various incidents across the Cold War and early post-Cold War era,” Phil Weir, a British naval historian, told McClatchy News. The Foch ferried nuclear-capable aircraft around the world and was present during flash points in Djibouti, Lebanon and Serbia. The vessel was also “something of a film star,” serving as a backdrop in the blockbuster 1995 film “Crimson Tide,” Weir said.

In 2000, the French sold the ship to the Brazilian government, which had expressed an interest in expanding its naval capabilities in order to protect its 4,600 miles of coastline. It appears to have been purchased “almost ‘sold as seen,’” Weir said. “Her Brazilian career began well but descended into a nightmare for any navy, let alone one buying second-hand warships,” Simon Harley, a naval historian, told McClatchy News.

After a few years of cruises up and down the Atlantic and participation in several military exercises, misfortune began to strike, Weir said. A 2005 fire relegated the São Paulo to the docks for four to five years, and another “nasty” fire in 2012 kept it in a constant state of repair.

When it became clear the vessel would require a substantial financial investment to be made seaworthy again, the navy made the decision to decommission it in 2017, according to Defense Air and Naval, a Brazilian news site.

The forlorn vessel was sold at auction in 2021 to a Turkish company intent on dismantling it and selling its parts, according to Defense News.

However, 22 days after embarking on its voyage to Europe, Turkish authorities, citing environmental concerns, prohibited the ship from traveling to the country, according to the Brazilian navy.

When met with the news, the vessel tugging the São Paulo turned around and anchored it off the coast of Brazil, where it floated for months. An inspector sent aboard determined the “ghost” ship was unsalvageable, at risk of sinking and thereby banned from entering Brazilian ports, the navy said.

Left with no other choice, the government, in spite of push back from environmentalists, announced plans to scuttle the ship in a remote part of the ocean with a depth of at least 9,000 feet.

Unless the government reverses course, after 60 years of riding the waves, the São Paulo will soon be put to rest below them.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Personal note: The death of any military vessel is a sad event and a piece of history
that will be lost forever more to the seas for which they sailed. The oceans are
cluttered with war debris and many men that sailed on them. It's like loosing a
brother at arms or a weapon that could deliver a response in its years past.
-
The seas are full of debris - of waring vessels - that were once used to counter
aggressive actions. Men died on those ships at one time or another. It's like
loosing a brother - after the fact - and yet given the deep six for it's eternity!
-
__________________
Boats

O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
sendpm.gif Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 12:28 PM.


Powered by vBulletin, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.