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.
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