Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.
Posted on 10/24/2009 2:29:04 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
Edited on 10/24/2009 2:32:13 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
The Navy's need for speed is being answered by a pair of warships that have reached freeway speeds during testing at sea.
Independence, a 418-foot warship built in Alabama, boasts a top speed in excess of 45 knots, or about 52 mph, and sustained 44 knots for four hours during builder trials that wrapped up this month off the Gulf Coast. The 378-foot Freedom, a ship built in Wisconsin by a competing defense contractor, has put up similar numbers.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I don’t know...I know the top speed of our carriers is classified, but...having been on one going at flank speed and leaving damn near a rooster-tail, I have a hard time believing one of our carriers would be all that far behind it...:)
That is actually a pretty nice looking vessel...
I think ACC’s have been doing over 60mph for decades and decades.
Already done. The Navy canceled any follow-on LCS's in 2007 because of the cost.
I spent 4 years on the South Carolina trying to keep up with Nimitz and Ike., the big boys are very fast, in fact the speeds announced in that article are not very impressive.
The Somali pirates will probably get one.
Well how long is a Nimitz and can it operate in the same waters?
I wonder what it’s like to hit a whale at 50 mph.
The Nimitz is the first of the big carriers, you could have THREE football games on deck at the same time without overlapping. It will steam for about ten years before needing refueling.
LOL...that is what I thought too...:)
Thanks for your service, shipmate!
I agree with the comments posted however I suspect that the actual high end speed will be classified, the same as with carriers. Note the article does not state if the “gas turbines for extra speed” were engaged...
From a link on the reference article:
Notable achievements during the trials included reaching a sustained speed of 44 knots during the required four-hour full-power run, with a top speed in excess of 45 knots. Many of the test events were conducted in high sea-state and wind conditions (8-foot waves and winds in excess of 25 knots). Despite the weather, the ship repeatedly reached speeds of over 45 knots with propulsion and ride-control systems operating in full automatic mode, proving the effectiveness of the control systems and the highly efficient and stable characteristics of the trimaran hull form.
A series of high speed ahead and astern maneuvers in these sea state conditions proved the effectiveness of the ship’s four steerable water jets. During the repeated high-speed turns the ship demonstrated excellent agility and stability characteristics. The ship’s flight deck remained stable despite sea state conditions and maneuvers.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/General-Dynamics-Littoral-prnews-1935596371.html?x=0&.v=1
Someone will go down in Naval history as the first person to water ski behind that SOB!
Actually, since it is a littoral combat ship, I think the expected answer was that the Nimitz can’t. But heck, they can send a whole boatload of planes in and plaster those areas, but that isn’t what a ship like this is for.
I had the opportunity recently to go on a Oliver Hazard Perry class vessel, and it was interesting because it had been adapted to the role of littoral combat (to a degree)
I think the Navy does need vessels like these...
It’s an amazing thing to experiance. We hit one in the ship I was on believe it or not. Not enough to knock you out of your chair, you can feel and hear it as it slides down the side of the ship.
I would’t want to be either the whale or the guys on the ship...I could see a lot of people flying into bulkheads...
We were doing about 25 or 30 knots when we hit that one.
LOL...that was a big joke on the carriers, they clearly seemed to go fast enough to easily water ski and everyone would have loved to see it. I wish someone would do it! We can wait for that to appear on YouTube...:)
No kidding! I would think on a ship like the South Carolina, that would be a major issue...but I guess it would depend on the size of the whale.
Not like those poor bastards on the USS San Francisco...like hitting a brick wall for them. Amazing they didn’t sink.
By the way, we tried to get the admiral to let someone water ski behind the Ike, let's just say the old man was less than thrilled with the idea.
I believe we hit somewhat of a glancing blow, it didn’t slow us one little bit.
The Forrestal was the first of the "big carriers" and several were commissioned; Forrestal Class, Kitty Hawk Class and Enterprise Class, prior to Nimitz which was the first of the Nimitz class.
It will steam for about ten years before needing refueling.
More like 20+. Nimitz sailed for 23 years before having to be refueled. A Nimitz class boat should only require one RCOH during it's service life.
Nuclear Carriers can do 50 MPH. That is a fact.
the nimitz was over 90,000 tons
We sailors don't put much stock in lenth, we deal in tonnage!
That would be 44 knots. A little high, I think. I had a friend on the JFK when she was on a post-overhaul full power run and they only hit 36.5.
Sharks ate well though.
I had a whale surface right off the starboard bow moving left one time when I had the conn. Don’t know if we hit or not. There was certainly nothing I could have done to avoid it.
What's the range at that speed? Not much I suspect.
Incorrect. Forrestal exceeded 78,000 tons.
the nimitz was over 90,000 tons
The Enterprise, which was commissioned 13 1/2 years prior to Nimitz, exceeds 93,000 tons.
Even if I were to allow you to backtrack on your earlier claim, which I won't, the facts speak for themselves. Nimitz wasn't the first of the "big carriers".
Forrestal: 78,200 tons
Saratoga: 78,200 tons
Ranger: 78,200 tons
Independence 80,000 tons
Kitty Hawk: 82,200 tons
Constellation: 82,200 tons
Enterprise: 93,500 tons
America: 82,200 tons
Kennedy: 80,950 tons
We sailors don't put much stock in lenth(sic), we deal in tonnage!
Most of you put more stock in BS than you do in facts.
I think that the Navy Martin P6M Seamaster could hit 600 mph on water if you cut the outboard wings off-
http://www.aviation-history.com/martin/p6m.html
And lighten up.
If you go to the NavSource website you will see that you are the one full of BS.
The entire Forrestal class was 56,000 tons as delivered. Go sell your BS to some one else.
I'll bet I can guess what the AA stands for, but I can't say it here.
Hehehe, I’ll BET he was less than thrilled...
Twenty five feet waves make men of us wee boys!
I was on a non-nuclear carrier (Kennedy) and I will tell you, the first time the vessel was at flank speed while I was on it, we were crossing from Norfolk to Rota. I don’t know why they were at flank speed, but it woke me out of sleep (my rack was right underneath the arresting gear cables!)
When I woke up the entire ship was going WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM at about 240 WHAMS a minute! It was loud, too. So I got dressed, and it was probably around 0200-0300 sometime, and as I went down and looked out a hangar bay door, I could not believe how fast the water was rushing by. I will admit, my mouth dropped open, I had no idea how fast those ships went.
I took a walk back to the fantail, and there was a mountain of boiling water astern of the ship. Just unbelievable, the amount of water being churned up! I am only half-kidding when I said it made a rooster-tail!
So it could have made about half that speed if they'd just set up sails and run before the wind?
I doubt that... The fastest I have been able to go on my Nonsuch (5 ft draft) is about 10 knots down wind with a 25 knot wind with 3-4 waves however my friends claim I’m lying.
World Sailing Record for l’Hydroptère!
France - With peak speeds reaching an amazing 55.7 knots, l’Hydroptère has shattered the world speed sailing record* with an average speed of 51.36 knots over 500 meters. This not only trounces the Macquarie Innovation speed of 50.07 kts (the fastest boat), but in the ongoing battle between big and small, the giant hydrofoil has become the fastest watercraft under sail, besting the 50.57 kts recorded by Alexandre Caizergues on his kite-board last year. With record-making season just beginning, the bar has been set high by the mighty Hydroptère and her crew...
http://yachtpals.com/sailing-hydroptere-7018
Many years ago, when the Intrepid was just commissioned as a museum, and practically nothing was on it, they did have a scale model of the Intrepid sitting on the flight deck of a scale model of the Nimitz! There was plenty of free space on the flight deck... And just standing on the flight deck of the Intrepid was an eye opening experience. That's one BIG ship, and it's dwarfed by the Nimitz!
Mark
Only if you drop them from 120 feet.
>>>Independence, a 418-foot warship , 2176 tons
Never thought before to make the comparison but looking it up I see the Knox class frigates were 4130 tons with a length of 438 feet. And the Peary class were 4100 tons and 453 feet.
I previously had it in mind the LCS were a much shorter version of frigates.
Each carrier had a few quirks that set it apart from the rest. America for example had a Sonar Dome the others didn't. You could hear it loud and clear if you slept at water level like I did. Being on a carrier at Flank speed is an experience indeed. The ship takes on a completely different feel underway but changes again at Flank. We ran around Messiana one night at flank transiting it several times. The Old Girl was at flank and turning as well. Only a few onboard know the real top end speeds. Bridge would know, Central would know, the MMR's would know or ENG SECCON, and FWD IC definately would know as thats where the brain was located IIRC :>}.
I know that the claimed top speed of the ship (which is now decommissioned) was 32 knot.I personally witnessed 41 knot indicated. If that equipment was accurate, that is hauling a$$.
Anyone who served on naval fighting ships knows the experience of flank speed. It is awesome to see and feel.
I have watched as we were at flank as the Nimitz or Ike walked away from us like we dropped anchor! When I said The "big" carriers I meant the currant class active. Which also happen to be largest in tonnage and length as delivered to the Navy. Someone, who I will not name called me out on that complete with some numbers of tonnage that were wholly inaccurate.
It wouldn’t surprise me if some of the newer conventionals in the KH class did 45 knots. I might be able to find out for sure. My last deployment we lost an entire MMR and a shaft due to a switchboard meltdown so I know we didn’t. DFT line ruptured right into it.
Problems like that are rare. I know the navy does have some very fast ships.
Well, I didn't say how they reached it! Perhaps I exaggerated a tad. Thanks for setting me straight.
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