Epic Voyage of the Corbin Foss

I just learned of Seattle's Corbin Foss towing the decommissioned aircraft carrier ex-Constellation to a scrap yard in Brownsville Texas.

Our wiz-bang newspaper just reported it today, so I find myself playing catch-up! The tow left Bremerton on August 8th!

When I brought the Corbin Foss up on MarineTraffic, I find she is a day or so out of Long Beach! Had I known about it in real time, I could have gotten some excellent shots of the tow passing my home here in Port Townsend!

At any rate, this video, grainy as it is, is all I've been able to locate. Shot by Ron Bishop, the tow is just getting underway, traveling through Rich Passage. Rich Passage leads from Bremerton Naval Ship Yard out to Puget Sound.

Voyage by the Numbers

Corbin Foss
•  Foss Maritime, Seattle Washington
•  Built: Marine Power & Equipment, Seattle
•  Launch: 2003
•  Callsign: WDB5265
•  MMSI number: 366902220
•  IMO number: 218926
•  Length: 149.8 ft (45.6 m)
•  Beam: 40 ft (12 m)
•  Draft: 19.5 ft (5.9 m)
•  Prime Mover: 2 x ALCO 16-251F diesel engine, 4,100 horsepower @ 900 RPM.
•  Twin Screw Kort Nozzle
•  Bollard Pull: 212,900 lbs (106 t)
•  SOLAS (Compliant with Safety of Life at Sea criteria)
•  Net: 181 tons
•  Complete Tug History

USS Constellation (CVA-64, CV-64)
•  Length: 1,088 ft (332 m) overall, 990 ft (302 m) waterline
•  Beam: 282 ft (86 m) extreme, 130 ft (40 m) waterline
•  Draft: 39 ft (12 m)
•  Launched: October 8, 1960
•  Commissioned: October 27, 1961
•  Decommissioned: 7 August 7, 2003
•  Removed from the Navy List: December 2, 2003
•  June 2014, the US Navy awarded International Shipbreaking Limited of Brownsville, Texas, for the towing, dismantling and recycling of ex-Constellation.
•  Estimated travel time: 140 days.
•  Distance: Bremerton Washington to Brownville Texas, 16,000 miles
•  Crew change: Chile.
•  Too big to transit the Panama Canal, travel through the Straits of Magellan into the Atlantic, thence to Texas.
•  Tow Weight: 61,000 dead weight tons

The tow will stop for fuel at Long Beach also to clear Customs.

Bremerton Mothball Fleet

•  USS Ranger (CV 61) Type ship: Forrestal-class aircraft carrier Length: 1,067 feet Beam: 270 feet Status: Stricken, available for donation as museum or memorial Commissioned: Aug. 10, 1957 Decommissioned: July 10, 1993 Stricken: March 8, 2004
•  USS Independence (CV 62) Type ship: Forrestal-class aircraft carrier Length: 1,070 feet Beam: 263 feet Status: Stricken, to be disposed of Commissioned: Jan. 10, 1959 Decommissioned: Sept. 30, 1998 Stricken: March 8, 2004
•  USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) Type ship: Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier Length: 1,069 feet Beam: 282 feet Status: Out of commission, in reserve Commissioned: April 29, 1961 Decommissioned: Spring 2009
•  USS Constellation (CV 64) Type ship: Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier Length: 1,073 feet Beam: 282 feet Status: Stricken, to be disposed of Commissioned: Oct. 27, 1961 Decommissioned: Aug. 6, 2003 Stricken: Dec. 2, 2003

Follow the Voyage 

•  You can follow this epic voyage on Foss' Maritime Blog.
•  And you can get "real time" positioning at www.MarineTraffic.com  (Click on green icon, "Click on Live Map.")