Images of rusty ships embarrass US Navy chiefs The gun on its stealthy destroyer is a dud because of expensive ammo. Its newest aircraft carrier had problems with the system that launches aircraft. READ MORE: The rust was quickly removed, and the ship repainted. But the rusty ship and its weary crew underscored the costly toll of deferred maintenance on ships and long deployments on sailors.(AP) The guided missile destroyer USS Zumwalt is assisted by a tugboat at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on April 2, 2019, in Honolulu.(AP) On top of that, embarrassing photos of rusty ships online have underscored delays in maintaining warships, made worse by the pandemic.