| Hell and Death | ||||
Hell and Death
The hulk of ex-USS Ramsey was expended as a target on June 15, 2000 in the SINKEX portion of RIMPAC 2000, by air and surface launched Harpoon anti-ship missiles. In the first picture, the engine of destruction, an air launched Harpoon missile, is circled. As the Navy announced it:
"Missile and aircraft firing exercises involving nine ships and three different types of aircraft to sink ex-USS Ramsey and ex-USS Gen. Hugh J. Gaffey started June 15. Ex-Ramsey was the first to sink at 1:45 p.m. June 15 after taking surface and airborne harpoons."At the end of a warship's useful life, it somehow seems fitting that they be used to hone the skills of a new generation of gunners, then to rest on the bottom of the ocean in company with a lot of other good ships - and a lot of good sailors. Ramsey's end could have been worse. She could have been scrapped to make razor blades and rebar. Worse yet, she could have been a power barge, rusting away, listing against the bank of a mosquito-infested river in Central America.
Her honored grave is 023° 53' 00.6" North, 159° 35' 00.5" West, Depth: 2700 fathoms. For those of us who are navigationally challenged, that translates to a point north of the Hawaiian Island of Kauai, 16,200 feet (2.8 miles) straight down.
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