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125th YEAR No. 9JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN SATURDAY AUGUST 23 1WASHINGTON (AP) — Fiftycombat ships, including two aircraft carriers, a heavy cruiser and the battleship New Jersey, are among the 100 Navy vessels being laid up by the Pentagon to save money, Navy Secretary John Chafee announced Friday.• Secretary, of Defense Melvin R. Laird had said earlier the New Jersey would be- among Navy ships going into mothballsbut Chafee’s disclosure that twocarriers are involved came as a surprise.T ; flattops are the Bennington _ and Kearsarge, which are antisubmarine aircraft carriers whose principal mission is tokeep t'rack of Soviet submarines.Their deactivation will leave the Navy with only four antisubmarine aircraft carriers, with another 16' carriers assigned to the attack role.Chafee, as Laird did Thursday, said U.S. fleet readiness will be hurt by the decision.‘-‘Anytime you reduce readiness,” he told Pentagon newsmen, “obviously you are reducing the Navy’s, ability to respond to national emergencies or to handle national commitments.”’72,000-Man CutIn all, Chafee 'identified 76 ships which will be retired over the next three months. He said that as a result Navy manpower will be cut by about 72,000.Chafee said the Navy is absorbing about $1 billion of a $3 billion expenditure reductionprogram under way in the Pentagon.Other ships being retired include the heavy cruiser Canberra, the amphibious assault shipsoxer, Princeton and Valley Forge, along with an assortment of old destroyers and frigates, auxiliaries and one mine warfare ship.They will either be decommissioned and placed in mothballs, replace older ships for naval reserve training or be scrapped, Chafee said.Chafee said the Navy now is placing great importance on winning congressional approval for its request for $2.5 billion to begin construction of new ships. He said 52 of the ships listed today are at least 25 years old.The manpower cut will dropthe Navy’s over-all force level to about 700,000 by next July.Chafee emphasized, however, the Navy will not be eliminatingpeople in mid-enlistment . although some early releases may be possible.Some Bases To CloseMainly, he said, the reduction will be accomplished “bv turning down the recruit inflow ... having a more liberal policy onemergency releases” and beingmore lenient on early retirements.‘Some naval installations will be shut down, but Chafee said these have not been determinedat this point.He said there will be no cut in 7th Fleet operations off Vietnam or 6th Fleet operations inthe Mediterranean.The Soviet Union currently has around 350 submarines, ~BULLETINA man in his early 20s, brandishing a handgun, today robbed the Park Avenue Grocery, 309 Park Ave., of about $150. Police were still investigating the robbery at press time, but it wasreported that no one was injured.Mrs. Frances Torpe, proprietor of the store, said the man entered shortly after 11 a.m., bought several items, and thencame behind the counter, pointed the gun at her, ‘cleaned outthe cash register,” and fled.
Newspaper Details
Janesville Gazette
Janesville, Wisconsin, US
Sat, Aug 23, 1969
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Robert B.
CA, USA 06 Aug 2020
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