quote:

Originally posted by Dreamerx4:
Something that has not been mentioned... In the 80's we began removing lead from everything because it was harmful to the children.

Paint, gas etc.

Is lead dangerous, it can be, but it does a much better job at corrosion protection than water based latex paint.

Not only are you seeing a much higher need for maintenance with lower performing materials, but now we have fewer folks doing the work....

Being green, costs a lot more green.

Winner!

There are 3 primary reasons USN ships are looking like ass. 1. Smaller crews, fewer bosuns mates and smaller deck departments. The bean counters, in their infinite wisdom have decided it’s cheaper in the long term to have fewer sailors, and have contractors do more of the work.
2. Environmental regulations. We cannot allow paint chips, rust chips, or droplets of paint to fall in the water at any US port. The paints we use now are lower VOC and no longer contain corrosion inhibitors like lead, zinc chromate, etc.
3. Operational tempos. Fewer ships mean more deployments, means shorter maintenance periods.