Top naval commanders have called for broad reviews and a "strategic pause" in the surface force after a pair of devastating inspections — one involving a Pearl Harbor-based ship — made them question whether today's crews can maintain their ships or even assess their state of readiness.

Vice Adm. D.C. Curtis, commander of Naval Surface Forces, and Rear Adm. Kevin Quinn, commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic Fleet, say ships and their crews must relearn how to evaluate themselves and, in Curtis' words, "get back to basics" by focusing on fundamentals such as routine inspections, maintenance and keeping ships clean.

The reviews were prompted by reports from the Navy's board of Inspection and Survey that found two warships — the Norfolk, Va.-based destroyer Stout and the Pearl Harbor-based cruiser Chosin — were in such poor condition they couldn't enter combat.

Most of the missiles couldn't be fired, and neither could any of the big guns. The Aegis radars key to the ships' fighting abilities didn't work right.

The flight decks were inoperable, most of the lifesaving gear failed inspection, corrosion was rampant, and lube oil leaked all over.

Curtis cited the evaluation, commonly known as an "InSurv," in an April 18 message to the surface force that ordered the "strategic pause."

"Recent formal and informal assessments and inspections indicate that our self-assessment capability has declined, resulting in reduced readiness," he wrote. "We made a lot of changes in the surface force in the past few years. ... We must conduct a rigorous assessment of the impact on readiness of these changes so we can make appropriate course corrections."

The deficiencies came from two ships in different fleets and different oceans within a week of each other. And each ship represents the Navy's most sophisticated front-line surface combatants.

The InSurv inspectors pore over about 45 to 50 ships a year. Forty-seven ships underwent the inspections in 2007, said Capt. David Lewis, the assistant chief of staff for maintenance and engineering with Naval Surface Forces in San Diego.

Each year generally sees several ships do so poorly that they're rated "unfit" for combat. But it is unusual for Aegis ships — considered the world's most sophisticated and capable surface warships — to perform so badly.

Three ships were rated unfit for combat in fiscal 2007, Lewis said: a frigate, a dock landing ship and a mine countermeasures ship. Since fiscal 2008 began, there have been two more: the Stout and Chosin.

Lewis pointed out that a great number of the problems on the two ships were known even before the inspections. But the InSurvs turned up more problems than were expected.

"The thing that popped at me was the volume of the discrepancies. Normally, we don't get that much on a given ship," he said.

Among the issues leading to the ships' condition is that they both recently returned from deployments, said Capt. Pete Gumataotao, chief of staff for Naval Surface Forces. Overhaul periods already were planned for the ships, he said.