What is the average length of time a naval ship (for the US) has been commisioned?

Question

Or in other words what would be an surprisingly short time for a brandnew naval ship? How long do you think naval ships are in commission before they are decommisioned? Any sites that have this specific information?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks. :)

Answer 1

About 30 years on average.

Answer 2

Mona,

I don't understand exactly what you are looking for. We have been building Navy ships since 1776, or so. The USS Constitution was built in 1798 and is still in commission. Some ships in WWII were sunk the first time they were in combat as a brand new ship. Some ships have been commissioned, de-commissioned, re-commissioned, and then de-commissioned, notably the Iowa-class battleships. They were in WWII, the Korean War, and in the first Gulf War. Now they are show ships, all four of them.

If you want a site which will show you commissioning dates and de-commissioning dates on just about every US Navy ship go to the URL below. It is a huge site, and has the history of most ships in the US Navy.

As a general rule, larger ships last longer than do smaller ones. Aircraft carriers and battleships last the longest, followed by cruisers, and large support ships, such as sub and destroyer tenders. Lots of support ships have been re modernized to keep up with new tasks.

I hope that this helps. If you need something specific, email me, and I will try to help.

Regards,

Dan

Answer 3

The average age of a naval ship is 25 years. At the end of 25 years, they either decommision it or give it a major overhaul, depending what the ship is being used for. Newer ships are smaller and much faster. Overhauling a ship is very expensive, often times, it is cheaper to build a new one. Some ships depending on their use, get overhauled 3 or 4 times. Some ships in commission today have seen action in WW2.