Following a 36-year Navy career, the USS Mobile Bay is on track to participate in a SINKEX exercise as part of RIMPAC 2026 this month.

The United States Navy has pursued an aggressive inactive schedule to retire its aging, maintenance-heavy vessels. In the past four years alone, the service has sought to decommission or transfer nearly 50 ships, enabling the US Navy to free up funding for next-generation platforms. It is the largest scaling down of the service since the end of World War II.

That has included the retirement of numerous workhorse warships of the fleet, including multiple Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers, the second-largest surface combatant in service today. Although some are destined for the scrap yards, at least one—the former USS Mobile Bay (CG-53)—will instead be sent to the bottom of the ocean in the coming weeks.

Named after the famed 1864 battle of the American Civil War, CG-53, which was decommissioned three years ago in August 2023 after 36 years of service, supported US operations in numerous major global conflicts, including 1991’s Operation Desert Storm, the 2001 major drug interdiction campaign against the Mexican cartels, and 2003’s Operation Iraqi Freedom. The warship also conducted multiple humanitarian aid missions.

The vessel’s motto was “Full Speed Ahead,” in honor of Admiral David Farragut’s possibly apocryphal quote from the Battle of Mobile Bay—”Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

Several Retired US Warships Will Be Sunk at RIMPAC 2026

The USS Mobile Bay will be sunk as part of the ongoing Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) naval exercises that began on June 24 and which will run through the end of July, The San Diego Union-Tribune first reported. The US Navy hasn’t confirmed when exactly the former US Navy warship will meet its end, but it will come as part of a live-fire Sinking Exercise (SINEX).

In addition to the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser, the Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship ex-USS Peleliu (LHA-5) will also be sunk by friendly fire during the 30th RIMPAC biennial international maritime exercise.

“USS Peleliu, which spent most of its service years operating out of San Diego before it was decommissioned, will be attacked and sunk during an upcoming training mission off Hawaii,” the Union-Tribune wrote.

At least one other warship has already been sunk during recent exercises in the Philippine Sea. The Pacific Air Force confirmed that a B-2 Spirit bomber deployed an AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) against another former US Navy warship. The SINKEX, which took place on Saturday, June 27, was meant to demonstrate the capabilities of the standoff weapons, which can “detect and destroy enemy ships at long ranges,” the Pacific Air Forces explained.

The vessel in question, though initially unidentified, was later confirmed as an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, the ex-USS Juneau (LPD-10), which was sunk in the Mariana Islands Range. However, it took more than the LRASM to actually sink LPD-10, as an unidentified Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) submarine fired the torpedo that was the “death knell” for the former warship.

The sinking of the LPD has a tragic echo in history. The first warship named for the capital city of Alaska, the Atlanta-class light cruiser USS Juneau (CL-52), was sunk by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-26 in November 1942 during World War II at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, just eight months after being commissioned. The ship’s sinking highlighted the human cost of warfare; five brothers from the same family, the Sullivans, were among those lost, with only 10 crew members surviving.

The US Navy recognized the Sullivan family’s loss by naming a Fletcher-class destroyer, USS The Sullivans (DD-537), in honor of the brothers in 1943. An Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, DDG-68, was commissioned with the same name in 1997.

About the Author: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciuhascontributedto dozens of newspapers, magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also acontributing writerfor Forbes andClearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter:@PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.

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