Lebanon: Catamaran to the Rescue

DefenseTech.org ^ | July 24, 2006 07:51 PM | Staff

[glorgau]

The U.S. Navy's evacuation of Lebanon is done. Now, the focus is on delivering humanitarian aid to the Lebanese. At the center of the effort: the Navy's giant, super-quick catamaran.

Until recently, the experimental, Australian-built HSV-2 Swift was working as a mine warfare command and control ship. But with "its enormous 28,000 square foot mission deck, the ability to traverse littoral waters, the capability of handling speeds in excess of 40 knots, and maneuverability that doesn't require tugboat assistance," as Navy Newsstand notes, the catamaran was a natural for the Lebanese operation. "The vessel has the cargo space of about 17 C-17 aircraft and the access of a Cyclone-class patrol boat," said Lt. Cmdr. Phillip Pournelle, executive officer of Swift's Gold Crew.

And it's not the 318-foot catamaran's first humanitarian mission. Back in January, 2005, the Swift sped to Southeast Asia, to deliver aid to tsunami victims. In September, it brought supplies to the Gulf Coast in the wake of hurricane Katrina. The Swift's predecessor helped sneak SEAL teams into southern Iraq during the 2003 invasion.

The "wave-piercing, aluminum-hulled catamaran," originally designed as a commercial vessel, now comes with military enhancements, "such as a helicopter flight deck, small boat and unmanned vehicle launch and recovery capability, and an enhanced communications suite," the Navy says.

But it's the catamaran's ability to quickly get to an from ports -- without help -- that Navy leaders seem to find most attractive.

[Just before the Lebanese mission] "on the afternoon of July 11, Swift left Bahrain's Mina Salman pier with a shipload of cargo destined for USNS Supply (T-AOE 6) moored at Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates. Twelve hours later, the Navy-leased catamaran arrived alongside Supply, ready to off-load.

"The cargo was only touched twice," said Swift's Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Rob Morrison. "[Normally] we'd have to load a truck with the cargo, off-load it at the airport, load it back onto an aircraft, fly it to its destination, off-load it, and move it by truck to the ship, where it's delivered to the ship and finally loaded aboard..."

Upon arrival, Swift's crew had the cargo loaded onto the flight deck, thus allowing Supply's crane immediate access to the palleted goods. Within an hour, the transfer was complete.

UPDATE 07/25/06 9:35 PM: HSV-maker Incat is also working on a funky heavyweight elevator for the catamaran. It's designed to take copters up to the flight deck, or lower amphibious vehicles straight in the water, between the ship's twin hulls. "Sounds like a perfect way to
deploy a Marine platoon or company for quick-response missions like
embassy evacuations and small raids," reader JG says.

[glorgau]

Very cool platform.

[Flavius]

thanks for posting this

[spanalot]

No 15 degree list there.

[MD_Willington_1976]

Working well for the U.S. Navy...

They were crap for BC Ferry's in BC Canada...

[Sam Cree]

Check this thing, Ramius, does over 40 kts. and looks more like a (mega) yacht than a military boat. Although warships do tend to have attractive lines.

[JSteff]

Seems really great so I think that means our navy will not renew the lease nor buy any more.

Going by past acquisition history, our navy will develop an alternative that is 3 times as heavy, carries 1/4 as much cargo, and uses 5 times the fuel as this.

[Francis McClobber]

It's a civilian boat originally pressed into service by the Aussies during the first East Timor crisis. It worked pretty well moving people a great distance over water in a short time.

Guess the Nav thought it might work well for us, too.

[Sam Cree]

Thank you. She certainly has a nice look. Do you know what her original function was as a civilian boat?

[Francis McClobber]

I'm not exactly sure, but I think it is a high speed ferry.

[golfisnr1]

Fast Catamarans are used to ferry tourists from Port Douglas to the Outer barrier reef on the northeast coast of Australia (an hour north of Cairns).
I beleive it held 300 passengers. It was able to navigate above the reefs when it rose up on the pontoons when accelerated.
Neat trip to a barge located over the reef.

[Ramius]

Yah! I'm familiar with the Swift... it's an interesting platform, though only lately out of "experimental" status. Cool that it is filling a needed niche.

[canuck_conservative]

I thought that looked familiar ....



.... but BC Ferries had to get rid of them because they created too much wake in our coastal areas.

[Mr. Brightside]

A recent development in catamaran design has been the introduction of the power catamaran. The 'power' version incorporates the best features of a motor yacht and combines it with the traditional sailing characteristics of a multihull. Usually, the power catamaran is devoid of any sailing apparatus as demonstrated by one of the top-selling models in the United States, the Lagoon Power 43. This vessel has now been introduced to a number of charter fleets in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean and is becoming an increasingly common sight.

[freedumb2003]

Very cool

[Daaave]

Unloading from the Navy's HSV-X1 Joint Venture

[glorgau]

I just noticed that the first ship is listed as "HSV 2".

One can only imagine the jokes done at their expense.

[Daaave]

"There are two different types of herpes virus, which are called HSV-1 and HSV-2."

I didn't know what you were talking about. I kept thinking HIV? Was about to message you. Then remembered that I can look stuff up myself, duuuh!

[no-s]

ping for Lt. Cmdr. Pournelle! I recall him as a young teen war-gamer, now XO of a high-tech wonder. Go Navy!

[MD_Willington_1976]

Nah the "well to do" owners of gulf coast Island properties complained to their government friends... the result, nearly 1 billion dollars down the drain, and the cats sold to an everett shipyard for... 18 million USD... NDP Joke!

"but it was creating jobs for the unionised boat builders, vote NDP and we'll let you make boats!" {/rolling eyes...