“From time immemorial, the purpose of a navy has been to influence, and sometimes decide, issues on land. … The sea has supplied mobility, capability, and support through Western history, and those failing in the sea-power test—notably Alexander, Napoleon and Hitler—also failed the longevity one.”
— Edward L. Beach, Keepers of the Sea
The increasingly documented problems, both with the ship and the crew of the USS Lincoln due to it’s record setting deployment aren’t the only concern we should have about our Navy. Other ships in the Lincoln’s Carrier Strike Group also have worn out crews and mechanical problems as do other ships deployed to the Persian Gulf. Carriers operate as part of a group and for good reason. They are the largest ships and due to their importance, cost and number of crew the best protected ships on the sea. That’s why they operate as part of a group – a Strike Group. The Lincoln and one assumes it’s Strike Group are finally going to be relieved.
However, as CNN reports all will not be as it should. While the USS George Washington Strike Group has left it’s current station and is headed to the Gulf – it’s missing a rather important component. The USS Benfold (an Arleigh Burke Class guided missile destroyer) won’t be with them as it’s apparently in port. Why? The Benfold drifted at sea for FOUR days without power recently! Also, as we learn from this reporting from CNN another destroyer lost power (for four hours so at least it wasn’t days) in the Indo-Pacific back in May. The Benfold’s problems were far greater:
The USS Benfold, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, was on routine operations in the Indo-Pacific on July 24 when an “engineering casualty involving its generators” occurred, Navy Cmdr. Matthew Comer, spokesperson for the 7th Fleet, said.
The Benfold is often part of the strike group the accompanies the USS George Washington –– the aircraft carrier currently heading to the Middle East to relive the beleaguered USS Abraham Lincoln –– but it appears to still be in Asia.
Besides losing the ability to maneuver on its own, the almost 10,000-ton warship saw its galley services, toilets, air conditioning and potable water impacted, Comer said.
Just so you know, the south China Sea is a very warm place. It’s downright HOT in fact and four days sweltering in that heat, drifting along on the currents and depending on sister ships to provide meals and water isn’t how our Navy is supposed to work. Yes, the incident took place at the end of July and repairs were made. However while the Navy won’t confirm whether the Benfold is on its way to the Gulf with the rest of the Strike Group ship spotters in Japan say it’s in port there. The rest of the Group is needed where it’s going, but it’s also much needed where it’s been. That’s another issue I’ll talk about down the road but for now I suggest you check out the importance of Carrier Strike Group 5 which is part of the 7th Fleet who’s presence is critical to keeping China in check.
Once again I need to emphasize that aircraft carriers operate as part of a group. If you don’t want to read the link above a typical Strike Group consists of the main ship, the carrier and in addition to tenders/supply ships some crucial ships that protect it. The carrier itself has up to nine aircraft wing/squadrons that handle both offensive and defensive operations. There are a couple (sometimes more) Ticonderoga Class Guided Missile Cruisers and a couple (again, sometimes more) Arleigh Burke Class Guided Missile Destroyers. There are also a couple of submarines to help keep away threats.
Why do those ships that are guided missile platforms matter so much? Well, for all the bullshit happy talk coming from Team Trump Iran still has the ability to launch missile and drone attacks not only at bases in the region but our ships at sea! But unless one of the Lincoln Strike Group’s destroyers draws the short straw and is left behind in the Gulf the Washington will be missing a Guided Missile destroyer much needed for its protection. For how long? Even if it set sail today the trip from Japan to the Gulf would take almost two weeks. But a four freaking day power outage is serious enough (and on top of a shorter one on another similar ship a few months ago) the Navy needs to figure out what the hell caused it! And again I want to note we had another as yet to be explained ‘engineering failure’ with an Arleigh Burke Class destroyer:
In May, the USS Higgins lost power and propulsion for several hours in the Indo-Pacific region, a US defense official told CNN at the time, after suffering what a Navy statement called an “engineering casualty” in its electrical system. They did not specify where that incident occurred.
Arleigh Burke-class destroyers like the Benfold and Higgins are the workhorses of the US Navy’s surface fleet, with more than 70 in service.
“Workhorses of the fleet” is what destroyers have long been. Never glamorous like Battleships and then Carriers have been but essential. I think of WWII and the epic battle of Leyte Gulf. Without those destroyers we’d have lost it and the entire war would have changed.
I put that quote from Keepers Of the Sea at the beginning for a reason. We are and have been the most powerful country in the world for longer than anyone reading this has been alive. Because our Navy is the most powerful. It has proven capable not just of protecting our shore, but PROJECTING power. Carrier groups can control the sea for a thousand mile radius, and also project serious power almost a thousand miles inland – usually they’re a hundred or more miles from shore during combat ops. No other country on the earth can do this anywhere near as much as we’ve been able to to. I should add that raw power doesn’t just protect military bases but also helps keep civilian shipping lanes open.
Now, that capability is bein steadily ground down. That’s the polite way to put it. My inner jarhead compels me to be blunt – we are pissing it away! All for a stupid war of choice. Munitions we might need if China makes a move or if trouble breaks out somewhere else are critically low. Ships are getting worn because normal deployments that allow for maintenance when in home port isn’t happening. And the crews of the ships are being ground down too. Just how badly is as I told Ursula something we won’t learn for months, but we will.
Many hundreds, if not thousands of sailors (both enlisted and Officer) will say ‘screw this’ and leave when their current period of service is up. Not that there isn’t constant turnover but this is going to be a lot of people leaving in a relatively short amount of time. Invaluable experience will be lost. As for the ships, as I keep saying what is typically a few months of regularly scheduled maintenance between deployments will be far more. The larger and more complex the ship, the longer the additional work will take. In the case of the Lincoln we could be talking years.
There’s a ripple effect to this. Other ships (and their crews) will be at sea for longer than has been normal. Think about how THAT will affect recruiting – ten bucks says we’ll wind up having to cut qualifications of recruits to fill the billets. Many of which I should add are for highly skilled work that if not done properly costs lives.
For now, we no longer have the carrier force in the western Pacific that’s key to our deterring China from being overly ambitious. I doubt they are in much of a hurry since Trump clearly doesn’t know how to end things in Iran. He’s also ramping up the drug interdiction stuff in central and south America. If I’m China I’m watching all this and thinking let Trump and the U.S. flail about for another six months or maybe even a year. Grind down our Navy more, and the effects will pile up and increase the decline of our ability to project power.
The Benfold not being able to head to the Gulf with the Washington Strike Group is a HUGE warning sign. We will still have a strong Navy of course. But not I fear unable to carry out the power projection that made us the undisputed leader of the free world for so long. Everyone, both friend and foe can see what Hegseth has done (with Trump’s blessing and encouragement) to our military. Petey Boy was Army and doesn’t know jack about even that, much less the importance of what a Navy can do. And what ours did for so long.
How many years will it take to recover? Will we even be able to in the world that will exist in the near future? THAT is why we have to get control of Congress in the midterms. And with more than narrow margins. We have to win big enough that Congressional Republicans will go along in a veto proof majority to stop this useless war with Iran.
Denis, about that opening quote, I don’t know anything about the author of that particular work, but I do know his grasp of history is a bit tenuous at best when he invokes the name of Alexander and “sea power.” Alexander never fought any sea battle–he had no interest in one. He managed to conquer so much land by fighting ON land and none of his opponents were all that massive in terms of “sea power” either. Alexander’s empire, at the time of his death, was largely surrounded by countries that had little in the way of notable sea power (such as the kingdoms on the Indian side of the Indus or the lands in *landlocked* Central Asia) or had nothing special in the way of a military presence that threatened Alexander (notably the Balkans or even Mediterranean lands to the west; remember, at this time, Rome was still a minor city-state, that had scarcely moved outside of the central part of the Italian Peninsula and Carthage–the only other significant power in the Mediterranean World at the time–didn’t seem interested in expanding to the east which would’ve brought conflict with Alexander but, maybe, if Alexander had lived a little longer, he might’ve turned his attention that way but even Carthage largely used its “sea power” in commercial ventures rather than military, aside from the ability to defend its colonies).
I get the guy’s intent but invoking Alexander as a “failure” in this fictitious “sea power test” is just historically, and militarily, wrong.
Beach had a distinguished career in the Navy. Look him up if you like. But to claim his sea power test is ‘fictional’ is beneath you. While Alexander might not be the greatest example the Med was vital even in his time. Again, it’s not just about warships fighting each other directly but having a fleet that can influence if not control shipping routes and civilian trade. It’s something Alexander didn’t seem interested in. Perhaps as you suggest he might have had he lived longer but he didn’t and his empire shrank.
A look at history does in fact show that countries that controlled the seas and could project power have dominated world affairs. Those who haven’t have sometimes wielded influence but not controlled things. Russia is perhaps the best example that comes to mind. It’s a vast country and blessed with even more natural resources than we’ve had. Yet they haven’t been the dominant force in world affairs. Their problem has historically been not having access to a single major, deep water port that wasn’t locked in by ice at least part of the year. For year round access to the major oceans they’ve had to move ships, whether military or civilian through ports controlled by other countries!
The fact is part of their massive inferiority complex can be tied to this geographical quirk.
In the end I content Beach was correct – the ability to project Naval power and control the seas has been a characteristic of virtually all great empires. For decades we’ve reigned supreme and as I’ve noted have been pissing it away. We are weakened and the world is a more dangerous place now than it was two years ago. Could we fight two major regional wars at the same time, something not that long ago was possible? No, we can’t. Not anymore. Our allies know this as well as our enemies do.
Worse, since (again as I noted) Trump intends to keep flailing about it will be many more months of degrading our capability. Our enemies are delighted because they can sit back as we become weaker and game out possible moves on places/things they covet.
If we can’t prove our ability to restore our former sea power it will be one more nail in the coffin of the U.S. as leader of the free world.
Surely the greatest exponents of sea power were the British, whose Royal Navy allowed a tiny island nation to rule over a huge portion of the world, all around the globe.