Zumwalt

[Riley Smith]

I thought some of you might be interested in this. The Zumwalt has been undergoing modifications here and was recently out on trials. Here's a shot of it returning.

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From what I can gather they are modifying it so it can use hypersonic missiles. Among other things.

[Timm R Oday25]

Bobbie and I were up in Marinette Wisconsin where I believe those are built . Pretty futuristic looking .

[Riley Smith]

White Elephant in the Navy's eyes. I know more than I can say about the construction.

[Krusen]

During a Pacific typhoon, a carrier convoy required their destroyer maintain the same course as the convoy, rather than best angle for safety.  I think that they lost 3 destroyers.

The Zumwalt seems to be a design that would require turning directly into the wind to survive really strong winds or tall waves.

I have been on two ocean liners while navigating through serious weather, and am impressed with how much difference takes place with just 10 or 20 degrees heading change.

The second one was a cruise ship in the Beagle Channel, and holding a 20 degree angle toward the wind, while TRACKING straight down the channel.  We were heeled 80% of the way to capsize, but steady there.  After the wind subsided, the Nav. Officer gave interested passengers a briefing.  Many passengers were certain we heeled 30 degree, but I thought 10..  After the other passengers had left, I gave my estimate, and the Nav. Officer agreed.  He said 13 degrees was capsize.

You can have a lot of windage, and survive, if you have freedom of heading.

[rfrance0718]

I think that they have built LCSs in Marinette, and are starting to build frigates. On a delivery from Lake Michigan to Lake Erie we were passes up by the USS Minneapolis-St. Paul (LCS-21) in the St. Clair River. She had been commisioned the day before. Pretty cool. We gave her a wide berth.

[Riley Smith]

Although the superstructure is a substantial size, it isn't what it appears. Back in the 70s the local shipyard built 30 destroyers in a huge contract. Back then the Shah of Iran got deposed, and Iran also had 4 boats on order. Needless to say if you could breathe, you could get a job here, but the fact of the matter was that aluminum was used as a means of making that superstructure lighter. The Falkland war taught the error of THAT line of thinking, with aluminum superstructures MELTING. Warfare brings it's OWN specifications and ONE of them is not sinking or MELTING. Hmmmm....maybe we'd better build 30 MORE!!!!

What was interesting from my standpoint back then was the interface between the steel deck and aluminum housing of those Spruance boats. It was a sole plate of maybe 1" steel and 1" aluminum fused together about 3" wide. I'm pretty sure that piece was fabricated using explosive welding or some other exotic means of melding two VERY dissimilar metals. One of the most exotic pieces of hardware I've ever seen in an unassuming chunk of metal. And you'd see some stuff, I guarantee. Like missile launchers (with dummy rounds), torpedo tubes, and all the electronics of the CIC (Combat Information Center). Turbines and comms.

From looking at these boats a few times there at the dock, on the dry dock, and locally, that strange looking superstructure houses all manner of things that are taboo to talk about. That stealth is built into the whole structure is evident from the angles and cleaner lines. Stealth isn't JUST those clean lines though, as a walkthrough on an Israeli corvette showed, because the deck where you could tell that panels were designed to reflect energy to was coated in special RAM paint. The HANDRAILS were a different shape. Lot of little things to add up to BIG things. And the same with this boat, among other things. It is the perfect shape to sit right below the horizon...and extend sensors ABOVE the horizon. I sort of suspect that the boat's character has been smeared to make it appear that it is uninteresting, clunky, and of little use.

[Krusen]

My concern was not weight aloft, but windage.  I expected that some of that superstructure was non metallic.

The cruise ship in the Beagle Channel turned sufficiently into the wind to control the heel angle, then adjusted speed to stay in the channel.  Being flat bottom for canal passages, she went sidewise smoothly.

[Riley Smith]

Yeah, you could put her on a bean reach and cut the engines   The whole boat was an experiment. Originally it was supposed to have a rail gun but that didn't work out. I haven't seen anything on the engines. I do know that it was built with a major ability to generate power. I'd sure like a tour.  I'm really concerned about the cruise industry and the designs of those ships. AND the level of expertise in the crew. That captain in Italy that put a hole in the hull with a rock actually saved countless lives by running the boat aground. Nah, I'm not going.