The US Navy announced on 30/6 that the cruiser USS Mobile Bay and the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu will be sunk in waters off Hawaii. This action is part of the 30th Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) international maritime exercise, scheduled from 24/6 to 31/7. While the exercise is underway, the US Navy has not yet announced the exact date for sinking the USS Mobile Bay.

The warship USS Mobile Bay in the Atlantic in 2019. Photo: US Navy.

Ship sinking exercises (SINKEX) are a crucial component of live-fire maritime exercises conducted by the US and its allies. They allow participating forces to hone real-world combat skills and operate combat systems, capabilities that cannot be fully replicated in simulations.

Target ships in SINKEX are stripped of weapons, electronic equipment, and fuel systems. This preparation reduces the risk of explosions and makes the vessels harder to destroy and sink compared to normal warships. This extended attack time allows multiple forces to launch coordinated strikes, maximizing training value.

The US Navy typically uses decommissioned vessels as targets for SINKEX. These ships are prepared according to strict standards and are only sunk in waters at least 2,000 m deep and nearly 100 km from land. Before the exercise, officials survey the area to ensure the activity does not harm humans or marine life in the training zone.

The USS Juneau hit by a Japanese submarine torpedo during an exercise in the Philippine Sea on 27/6. Photo: US Navy.

The USS Mobile Bay is the 7th ship of the Ticonderoga-class cruiser. It measures 173 m long, about 17 m wide, and has a full-load displacement of nearly 10,000 tons. The ship was launched in 1985, commissioned into the US Navy two years later, and decommissioned in 2023.

Ticonderoga-class warships are equipped with the Aegis combat system, a backbone of the US Navy's multi-layered defense network. Each ship had an ex-factory price of approximately one billion USD. This class is the only US surface combatant capable of air defense command and control, serving as the central hub for coordinating all air defense operations within carrier strike groups. Each vessel is equipped with 122 vertical launch system cells for missiles, compared to 90-96 cells on Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

A total of 27 Ticonderoga-class cruisers were built. Of these, only 7 remain in active US Navy service, with the rest decommissioned awaiting dismantling or sinking in exercises.

Pham Giang (According to War Zone, San Diego Union-Tribune)