Naval Shipyards: Better Definition of Mobilization Requirements and Improved Peacetime Operations Are Needed

For the past several years, Congress has expressed concern over the rate at which maintenance costs for naval vessels have increased while the size of the fleet has decreased. In fiscal year 1972, the Navy spent about $1.4 billion to overhaul, modernize, convert, and repair a fleet of 654 ships. By 1976, the fleet had decreased to 476 while the cost of maintaining it increased to about $2 billion. When the ships' forces and the Navy's intermediate level maintenance activities cannot do the work, it is performed in naval or private shipyards.