Ach -- I tell ya it jes' don'na feel right...
Posted on 04/07/2010 8:36:41 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The first time Chief Petty Officer Gary Thomas took his place on the bridge of the Navy's newest ship, he remembers, he felt a little nauseous.
It wasn't nerves or anything like that. The chief engineman was just more used to being below decks, where most vessels don't sway as much.
"As an engineer I had never stood watch on the bridge before," he said. "It's a lot different from being down below the waterline."
On this ship, multipurpose monitors allow engineers to oversee the entire operation from a seat on the bridge rather than having to stand watch in each engine space.
That's not the only difference for the 40 "hybrid sailors" serving as crew of the Independence, the second variant in the Navy's new littoral combat ship class.
Compared to the crews on most ships in the fleet, those aboard the Independence go through more training, do a broader array of jobs and rely more on technology.
However, the most different thing about the Independence - or at least the most noticeable one - might simply be the ship itself. While the crew of the Independence is similar to that of the other littoral combat ship variant, the vessel is anything but.
The 419-foot-long ship comes with a flight deck bigger than two basketball courts, the largest ever on a surface combatant. The bridge seems akin to something from "Star Trek," with vast arrays of glass overlooking a central control post where the officer of the deck can operate the ship with a multifunction joystick.
(Excerpt) Read more at jacksonville.com ...
That’s a nice looking ship, glad it’s coming here. Now if we can just get a nuclear powered carrier here...
Ach -- I tell ya it jes' don'na feel right...
I like the line on the last picture of the bridge. “The foil on the ceiling is used to raise the melting temperature of the aluminum hull” or something like that.
Well, wouldn’t the crew be done medium well long before the foil was used? It works that way on my gas grill.
Hoooolyyyyy Hannah!
The ship is making it way down the East Coast but will be home ported here in San Diego
Needs more yardarms. Can’t hang pirates without yard arms. Oh never mind I forgot - we don’t kill pirates anymore.
Navy family ping
Just more targets for submarines.
oh well
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