November20, 2006: The U.S. Navy continues to sink its own ships, using gunfire, missiles and torpedoes. On November 2nd, the decommissioned Aegis cruiser Valley Forge was sunk off Hawaii.

For a long time, unneeded ships were "sent to the breakers" (a shipyard that broke the ship up for scrap and reusable parts). However, this is now considered environmentally harmful if done the old fashioned way (as it is still done in countries like India), and too expensive if it is done in an environmentally (and politically) acceptable way. So what's the navy to do with retired ships? For a while, the U.S. Navy was putting old ships "in reserve" (tying them up somewhere until someone can come up with a solution.) But it doesn't look like future naval operations will be able to make much use of Cold War era ships, so most are being disposed of. Since breaking them up is not a good option, most are being sunk. For example, of 31 decommissioned Spruance class destroyers, 22 have been (or will be) used for target practice. Some of these old warships are sunk closer to the shore, to provide reefs for fish and scuba divers.

The USS Valley Force entered service in 1986, and was decommissioned two years ago. The 9,600 ton ship was armed with anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, as well as torpedoes and two five inch guns. It's main "armament" was its powerful Aegis radar system, making the ship a powerful defense against enemy aircraft and cruise missiles. The Valley Forge was built on a modified Spruance class destroyer hull. During World War II, cruisers were 3-4 times the size of destroyers. But since then, destroyers have grown much larger, while cruisers have actually gotten a bit smaller.