The US Navy's struggle to keep ships in fighting shape is leading sailors to 'cannibalize' more parts from other ships

• Shortages of spare parts is driving US sailors to take more and more parts from other ships.
• As a result, more ships are down for maintenance and unable to perform missions, a government watchdog says.
• The problem mostly stems from "increased demand for material that is not readily available," the watchdog says.

The US Navy is so short of spare parts that crews are increasingly taking a drastic step: Cannibalizing parts from some ships to keep other ships going.