More than a dozen warships and support ships will leave the U.S. Navy’s battle force this year, according to the Fiscal Year 2026 ship inactivation schedule released last week.
The Navy already bid farewell to Los Angeles-class submarines USS Newport News (SSN-750), which was decommissioned last month after 37 years of service. The 35-year-old USS Alexandria (SSN-757) will also leave the Navy’s active fleet this year on Aug. 4. The attack boats will be defueled and scrapped at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., USNI News previously reported.
Also leaving the fleet are Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers USS Lake Erie (CG-70) and USS Shiloh (CG-67), both slated for decommissioning Sept. 30. The two were previously scheduled to be decommissioned in Fiscal Year 2025. Lake Erie has operated in U.S. Southern Command since September 2025 as part of the Trump administration’s amassing of naval power in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
After decommissioning, Lake Erie and Shiloh will both serve as logistics support assets. Logistics support assets are used as a primary means of cannibalization and equipment removal for ships, reads a Navy inactivation schedule.
The 40-year-old USS Germantown (LSD-42), a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship, will be decommissioned on Sept. 29, according to the schedule. The dock landing ship will also serve as a logistics support asset.
Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) will be deactivated July 31 and is slated to be dismantled. Fort Worth, which is just 13 years old, made the inactivation list despite service officials speaking last month at the Surface Navy Association stating the Navy had reversed plans to decommission five Freedom-class and two Independence-class LCS, USNI News previously reported.
Three replenishment oilers, three roll-on/roll-off ships and one of two of the Navy’s offshore petroleum distribution system ships are set to leave in 2026. Military Sealift Command ships are non-combatants that are manned by mostly civilian crews and provide support to U.S. Navy warships during combat and humanitarian missions.
Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn (T-AO-198) will be inactive as of March 31, followed by USNS John Ericsson (T-AO-194) and USNS Pecos (T-AO-197) on July 31, 2026.
John Ericsson, which has been in service since March 1991, will be cannibalized so its parts can go to other ships. John Ericsson was last deployed in 2024, replenishing aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), as well as regional allies, in the Indo-Pacific.
The Navy in April will begin moving three Military Sealift Command roll-on/roll-off ships to the Maritime Administration. USNS Pomeroy (T-AKR-316) will be the first to be removed from active service April 1, 2026. USNS Watkins (T-AKR 315) will follow on July 1, 2026, and USNS Red Cloud (T-AKR 313) will be out of service on Sept. 30, 2026.
Military Sealift Command has used the cargo ships for 25 years and counting to transport military vehicles and equipment for combat and humanitarian missions. MSC currently operates a fleet of eight large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off ships, all of which were built in the 90s.
USNS Vice Adm. K. R. Wheeler (T-AG5001), an offshore petroleum distribution system ship, will conclude its service July 1, 2026, after two decades. Vice Adm. K. R. Wheeler is capable of pumping diesel or aviation fuel to shore from up to eight miles off the coast with a flexible pipe stored on 35-foot-tall spools on its weather deck. The ship is meant to deliver fuel to U.S. forces ashore during contingency operations where port facilities may be damaged, destroyed or nonexistent.
Aside from John Ericsson, the MSC ships getting deactivated will be transferred to the Maritime Administration for the ready reserve fleet or for disposal.
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