Dec. 23 (UPI) -- The readiness of the Navy's fleet of 32 amphibious warfare ships, which are deemed crucial in quickly projecting U.S. power around the world, is in dire shape, according to a scathing report issued this month. The Government Accountability Office said the rapid deployment force used by the U.S. Marine Corps to quickly reach and come ashore in global hot spots is so compromised by a backlog of maintenance that fully half of its ships were in poor operating condition as of March.