DWPs (the period in dry dock) are done after every 2 or 3 deployments for a given ship, and were traditionally meant take approximately 1 year and cost a few 10s of millions of dollars.
We are now at DWPs taking 3+ years and $750 million.
How much of that is the shipyard dragging their feet and making more money for less work?
Or "the experts" deferring critical work for a year or five and then going wow we didn't know that was so bad.
It would be interesting to have a external audit performed on ship maintenance while in dry dock. See if the cost of the work is worth the performance of work.
We often live in our own bubbles and are not challenged outside of it. I wonder if the Dockyards and those running the show just have become complacent and not engaged into outside their comfort zones.
Around the world ships get major overhauls done, structural parts removed and damaged steel replaced. Maybe it is not something we generally do.
I have to ask where would damaged ships be taken and fixed should they sustain enemy fire/ hit a mine?
There were RCSC on our ship once for a 2 week trip down to San Diego and the San Clemente gun line. ( that should give you an approximation of the year lol!!!). More than once we had to counsel sailors to stop being shockingly rude and ruthless with them. So if the cadets are no longer allowed at sea, that’s a good thing.
tie them alongside and de-constitute. This country’s Naval ambitions exceed the desire to serve from its youth.
I was on the HMCS Saskatchewan and then the HMCS Huron as a Cadet. The only person who treated me bad was my own Cadet escort officer. Who had to pulled aside by my Navy buddy and be told to treat me better. Then when he got worse he was talked to by the XO then the CO.
Other then the boys trying to get me to dance on stage in Campo Alegro I was never threatened or had any mis adventures with the crew. They all treated me extremely well.
One guy tried to get me to drive his rental Ferrari back to dealer for him in San Diego for him because he was to drunk to himself. The Duty Sailor did it for him.
It is sad to hear that Cadets were treated poorly on some trips. Those were great times and great experiences for young people to have.