Decommissioning and Disposal
Caloosahatchee decommissioned 28 February 1990, and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register, 18 July 1994. She was transferred to the Maritime Administration, 18 December 1998, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, Virginia. Caloosahatchee was sold for scrapping to Able UK, Hartlepool, Teesside, England, and removed from the Reserve Fleet under tow, arriving in the United Kingdom on 12 November 2003.
Caloosahatchee and three other decommissioned Navy ships, Canisteo, Canopus and Compass Island all arrived at Able UK under the same contract and came to be known as the "Hartlepool Four". Local protests and legal challenges, alleging unacceptable amounts of toxic substances contained on and in the vessels, delayed scrapping until Able UK secured the appropriate waste management licensing in August, 2008.
Scrapping of Caloosahatchee finally commenced in November, 2009 and was complete by April, 2010.
Read more about this topic: USS Caloosahatchee (AO-98)
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