Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

China’s Aircraft Carrier Could Be a Ticking Steam Bomb
War is Boring ^ | February 12, 2014 | David Axe

Posted on 02/12/2014 5:58:20 AM PST by C19fan

India’s refurbished Soviet-made aircraft carrier Vikramaditya suffered a boiler failure during her 42-day trip from Russia’s Sevmash shipyard, where she was rebuilt, to the Indian Karwar naval base on the country’s west coast starting in late November.

Like many Cold War-era warships, Vikramaditya is powered by complex steam boilers that can be unreliable and even dangerous. The Indian flattop had suffered an earlier boiler problem in 2012 during sea trials off the Russian coast—the ceramic insulating tiles failed, causing a boiler to overheat and shut down.

(Excerpt) Read more at medium.com ...


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: carrier; china; davidaxe; russia; warisboring
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-26 next last
Looks like the Indians and Chinese purchased some lemons of an aircraft carrier. Those Russians are great used cars salesmen.
1 posted on 02/12/2014 5:58:20 AM PST by C19fan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: C19fan

In Soviet Russia.. cars sell YOU!


2 posted on 02/12/2014 6:01:06 AM PST by ConservativeMan55 (In America, we don't do pin pricks. But sometimes we elect them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: C19fan

The good news is, the scrapping ‘yard’ (I use the term loosely) is just around the cornerl


3 posted on 02/12/2014 6:01:17 AM PST by tgusa (gun control: deep breath, sight alignment, squeeze the trigger .......)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: C19fan

Russians are using asbestos to insulate boilers in their carriers. India insisted on using alternative unproven insulation and it has failed. Chinese carrier was bought without powerplant at all.


4 posted on 02/12/2014 6:04:00 AM PST by cunning_fish
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: C19fan

As a former 600 pound plant steam engineer, it’s not easy. Can’t imagine Russian plants....


5 posted on 02/12/2014 6:05:53 AM PST by neodad (USS Vincennes (CG-49) Freedom's Fortress)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMan55
In Soviet Russia.. cars sell YOU!

LOL - yes!
6 posted on 02/12/2014 6:07:01 AM PST by andyk (I have sworn...eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: C19fan

Shocking.....the Soviets didn’t steal our boiler making technology???


7 posted on 02/12/2014 6:07:42 AM PST by ontap
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: C19fan
It does not matter how the Chinese carrier is powered. If they hauled one out, being towed by 200 year old junks, this administration would head to China waving a white flag before the NY Times could report on his latest foreign policy success.
8 posted on 02/12/2014 6:10:10 AM PST by Tupelo (I am feeling more like Philip Nolan every day)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMan55
 photo untitled_zps3a522c29.png
9 posted on 02/12/2014 6:10:25 AM PST by ontap
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: neodad

I worked one quarter as a co-op student at GA Power’s Plant Bowen, which was for a time the largest steam plant in the world. I know 2% of what you know, and concur heartily just from what I learned in Auxiliary Equipment Operator class.


10 posted on 02/12/2014 6:13:39 AM PST by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: C19fan

Trade trends are in favor of both of those countries.

America’s trade meanwhile, is still collapsing.

Bring back American jobs, and American manufacturing.


11 posted on 02/12/2014 6:16:13 AM PST by Cringing Negativism Network ( http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5700.html#2013)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: C19fan
China purchased Varyag in 1998 and, after 13 years of rework, commissioned her as Liaoning—Beijing’s first full-deck aviation ship and a potential rival of the U.S. Navy’s 11 aircraft carriers,

Wishful thinking on somebody's part. It might be big and gray and get underway, but, seriously, a rival to a US carrier ?

12 posted on 02/12/2014 6:18:51 AM PST by csvset
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: C19fan

The warranty just expired.

13 posted on 02/12/2014 6:19:06 AM PST by McGruff (Every night has it's dawn.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neodad
I've been in dozens of steam plants, PC and stoker coal, gas and heavy oil. I wonder if the Rooskies are still firing with N6...
14 posted on 02/12/2014 6:19:54 AM PST by Eric in the Ozarks ("Say Not the Struggle Naught Availeth.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: C19fan
One glaring error in the story. U.S. carriers spend 8 months of every three years deployed. The spend a lot more than that at sea.

If memory serves the Varyag was pretty much a hulk when delivered to China. She didn't have a powerplant. Unless the Chinese put in a Russian built boilers and turbines there is no guarantee that they would face the same problems.

15 posted on 02/12/2014 6:24:33 AM PST by Lower Deck
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cunning_fish
Chinese carrier was bought without powerplant at all.

Not surprising, the powerplants in the Sovremenny class DDGs that they purchased were total junk.

16 posted on 02/12/2014 6:41:16 AM PST by SampleMan (Feral Humans are the refuse of socialism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: cunning_fish

Asbestos is good stuff, and the hype over its “danger” wildly overplayed by the tort lawyers.

In gasket materials in particular it was very difficult to replace adequately.


17 posted on 02/12/2014 6:44:11 AM PST by nascarnation (I'm hiring Jack Palladino to investigate Baraq's golf scores.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: cunning_fish
insisted on using alternative unproven insulation and it has failed.

We lost Columbia for the same reason.

18 posted on 02/12/2014 6:45:50 AM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts ("The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it." - George Orwell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: C19fan

China is building a war machine that could fail when it goes to war.


19 posted on 02/12/2014 7:02:36 AM PST by bmwcyle (People who do not study history are destine to believe really ignorant statements.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ontap; Envisioning
"Shocking.....the Soviets didn’t steal our boiler making technology???" Apparently not. Image and video hosting by TinyPic BB35, she entered service as the World's most powerful War Ship. "BB35 Texas is notable for being the only remaining dreadnought battleship. She is also noteworthy for being one of only six remaining ships to have served in both World Wars. Among US-built battleships, Texas is notable for her sizable number of firsts: the first US Navy vessel to house a permanently assigned contingent of US Marines, the first US battleship to mount anti-aircraft guns, the first US ship to control gunfire with directors and range-keepers (analog forerunners of today's computers), the first US battleship to launch an aircraft from a catapult on Turret 3, one of the first to receive the CXAM-1 version of CXAM production radar in the US Navy, the first US battleship to become a permanent museum ship, and the first battleship declared to be a US National Historic Landmark." STEAM POWERED. The old girl will be 100 years old in March.
20 posted on 02/12/2014 7:09:03 AM PST by waterhill (I Shall Remain, in spite of __________.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-26 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson