The U.S. Navy Secretary's "Dismissal" Highlights "Shipbuilding Anxiety"

Reference News Network, April 27 report According to the U.S. Capitol Hill Daily website on April 23, U.S. Navy Secretary John F. Kelly was unexpectedly dismissed, marking the latest firing in a Pentagon shaken by Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth's management, indicating President Trump’s deep anxiety over his ambitious yet highly controversial U.S. shipbuilding plan.

Kelly served for only 13 months and is the first service secretary to be replaced during Trump’s second term. Since Hegseth took office, more than thirty military officials have been dismissed.

The dismissal of the Navy Secretary occurred at a time when the president is vigorously promoting the development of the U.S. shipbuilding industry. Developing the shipbuilding industry has become an increasingly important focus for this commander-in-chief of the U.S. armed forces to counterbalance China’s industrial and naval power.

Retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery stated on the 23rd that he was “not disappointed” by Kelly’s dismissal, but he expressed dissatisfaction with Kelly regarding the “Trump” class battleship issue.

Montgomery said, “He (Kelly) and the president concocted an extremely bad idea, which is to build a behemoth known as a battleship. This will cost at least $24 to $26 billion. The cost of just the first one is equivalent to about 12 destroyers.”

In December of last year, Trump announced the creation of a new type of battleship as part of the U.S. Navy's "golden fleet," which is seen as an upgrade to the Navy's Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

CNN reported on the evening of the 22nd that after Hegseth met with Trump regarding shipbuilding, Trump became convinced that Kelly had to go, and thus requested Kelly's resignation.

A former U.S. official, who wished to remain anonymous, told reporters on the 23rd that Kelly's dismissal was related to shipbuilding.

Fox News reported that for months, the relationship between Hegseth and Kelly had become increasingly strained, partly due to the Navy Secretary's ineffective execution of the shipbuilding plan.

One of Kelly's most controversial moves was to cancel the Constellation-class frigate program in favor of focusing on the Navy's future frigate FF(X), which is based on the U.S. Coast Guard's Legend-class patrol boats.

FF(X) has raised questions from retired Navy Captain Kevin Ayers and others.

He said, “What the Navy needs is a more streamlined, mission-oriented small surface combatant that enhances combat capability through clear objectives, rather than an excessive pursuit of luxury.”

Montgomery stated that he does not oppose Kelly's cancellation of the Constellation-class frigate, but the alternative “is completely contrary to the Navy's requirements for a frigate,” lacking both anti-submarine warfare systems and air defense systems, as well as vertical launch systems, and is extremely noisy.

Earlier this week, Kelly indicated that he does not rule out the possibility of building U.S. warships overseas.

Hunter Stiles, who served as a maritime affairs strategist in both the Biden and Trump administrations, told reporters: “The upper echelons of the Navy and the entire government understand the clear signal sent by President Trump’s dismissal of Secretary Kelly this week: even the mere appearance of supporting the outsourcing of U.S. Navy shipbuilding overseas, as long as it in any way obstructs or slows down shipbuilding investments, will jeopardize one’s career.” (Translated by Tu Qi)