Cold War Sailors

What do we do with obsolete navy ships? We used to give them away, or sell them to allies. The march of technology has made this less practical. We often sold ships for scrap. Environmental considerations have made this less desirable. Ships are often used as targets these days, in sinking exercises, or sinkexes, hit by gunfire, bombs, and missiles, until they finally roll over and sink. Ships are often sunk in strategic positions to provide fishing reefs. Given their compartmentation, it often takes quite a while for a navy ship to sink. These days, it's possible to see video of many of these sinkexes on YouTube.


The cold war sailors are
A dying,
Being bombed,
Broken,
Sunk beneath the waves,
Proving just how tough
They would have been,
Had they ever fought
The big one.
They fought a bit,
But mostly they
Just kept the peace,
And then,
When they were old,
And creaky,
Then,
Their children
Put them down,
Just for practice,
'Twas a better fate
To die a death,
By the sword,
Than slowly,
By the disrespectful
And ungrateful roar,
Of the breaker's
Blow torch.
Still,
It's hard
To see 'em go,
Those old gray ladies,
All of them,
Who served so well,
How'd you like it,
If your son,
Or daughter,
Put you down,
Just because
You'd gotten old,
And gray,
And arthritic?
Well,
Perhaps it is
A blessing
For a job well  done.
Bravo Zulu,
Requiescat in pace.