Norfolk, Va. (WTKR) – Something strange happened to the U.S. Naval Fleet between February and March: the Navy “lost” 9 ships.
According the Naval Vessel Register, “The Official Inventory of US Naval Ships and Service Craft,” the U.S. Naval Fleet stood at 275 on March 9, 2015.
That's down 9 ships from February, according to a report in Defense News, and confirmed to NewsChannel 3 by the Pentagon.
However, no ships were retired, decommissioned, sold or otherwise disposed of in the past few weeks.
So what happened?
Political language added to the 2015 Defense Authorization Act forced the Navy to change how it counts ships.
SEC. 1021. DEFINITION OF COMBATANT AND SUPPORT VESSEL FOR PURPOSES OF THE ANNUAL PLAN AND CERTIFICATION RELATING TO BUDGETING FOR CONSTRUCTION OF NAVAL VESSELS.
Section 231(f) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ''(4) The term 'combatant and support vessel' means any commissioned ship built or armed for naval combat or any naval ship designed to provide support to combatant ships and other naval operations. Such term does not include patrol coastal ships, non-commissioned combatant craft specifically designed for combat roles, or ships that are designated for potential mobilization.''
"Ship counting changes reflect direction outlined in the 2015 NDAA. The change in the numbers does not reflect an actual change in our ship inventory; rather, what has changed is the counting methodology, which excludes certain ships such as patrol coastal ships and hospital ships,” Lt. Rob Myers, a Navy Spokesman, told NewsChannel 3.
“Despite these changes, we affirm our commitment to reaching over 300 ships by the early 2020s and this is reinforced by ship procurement in our FY16 budget submission," Myers continued.
A statement from Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert before the House Subcommittee on Defense, Committee on Appropriations on February 26, 2015 included information that the Navy of 2020 will include 304 ships in the Battle Force, with 115 deployed at any given time.
