It looks quite a bit below the keel line to me.
055 DDG Large Destroyer Thread
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It looks quite a bit below the keel line to me.
Not sure how you came to that conclusion. All three CGIs depict a bulbous bow sonar dome that extends below the keel.
I think if you project the turn of the midship hull at the bilge kills further beyond the point where the hull is hidden by the keel blocks, the actual keel line would be very close to the bottom of the bulb. The bulb might protrude a little bit, but not anywhere near the degree that implies a very large spherical sonar array similar to those on American ships. There might be a u shaped hydrophone array in the bulb, but probably not a spherical array.
Another observation, the line of hawse holes on the ship's side is located much lower down on the freeboard than is typical of ship's with a normal bulwark around the foredeck, such as type 052b,c,and d, or the Ticonderoga class CG. Normally bulwarks are around chest high, so the hawse holes, located at near deck level, ought to be >1 meter below the tops edge of bulwark.
This suggests to me that on the type 055 the working space on the for'c'stle housing the bollards and the anchor capstan, normally open to weather in most warships, is completely enclosed by a turtle deck. Hence the distance between the hawse holes and top of the freeboard is equal to 1 full deck, rather than the height of a chest high bulwark.
This could have been to give these ship's higher freeboard forward, and thus improved ability to maintain high speed in rough seas. But more likely it is to give these ship much better stealth characteristics against radars looks slightly down from above by shielding all the normal deck clutter required for nautical ship handling below deck and this invisible to radars.
asif iqbal
Lieutenant General
Sometimes I can't actually believe China is building Type 055 CG
Can't wait for launch
Can't wait for launch
One further observation. All previous Chinese DDs used recessed anchor hawsepipe arrangement. In such an arrangement the anchor, when stowed, seats in a recess on the hull side and does not protrude. This significantly reduces the amount of spray generated when the ship heads into a heavy sea, and contributes to keeping the f'c'stle dryer in heavy seas.
On this ship, a protruding hawsepipe arrangement is used. In this arrangement the hawsepipes extends beyond the hull, and holds the stowed anchor some distance from the hull side. This turns the anchor into a major generator of spray when the ship heads into a heavy sea. The reason why such arrangements are used is to hold the anchor further from the hull side so when the anchor is dropped, it doesn't hit the bulbous forefoot.
There can be two reasons why previous Chinese DD can indulge in recessed hawsepipes where as 055 must use protruding hawsepipe. 1. The bulb on the 055 may be relatively significantly bigger, this making it necessary to hold the anchor further from the hull to avoid fouling the bulb. 2. The hawsepipe on the 055 is located much lower on the hull side, where the hull is narrower, so that anchor has to be held away from the hull.
I don't know if the 1st is true. If it is, it implies 055 may indeed have a new and bigger hydrophone array in the bulb. But 2 is almost certainly true. It appears the working deck in the f'c'stle is one deck lower in the 055 than in 052 in order to accommodate the enclosing turtle deck above. So the hawse pipe is also located at least half rro a full deck lower on the 055 than on the 052.
On this ship, a protruding hawsepipe arrangement is used. In this arrangement the hawsepipes extends beyond the hull, and holds the stowed anchor some distance from the hull side. This turns the anchor into a major generator of spray when the ship heads into a heavy sea. The reason why such arrangements are used is to hold the anchor further from the hull side so when the anchor is dropped, it doesn't hit the bulbous forefoot.
There can be two reasons why previous Chinese DD can indulge in recessed hawsepipes where as 055 must use protruding hawsepipe. 1. The bulb on the 055 may be relatively significantly bigger, this making it necessary to hold the anchor further from the hull to avoid fouling the bulb. 2. The hawsepipe on the 055 is located much lower on the hull side, where the hull is narrower, so that anchor has to be held away from the hull.
I don't know if the 1st is true. If it is, it implies 055 may indeed have a new and bigger hydrophone array in the bulb. But 2 is almost certainly true. It appears the working deck in the f'c'stle is one deck lower in the 055 than in 052 in order to accommodate the enclosing turtle deck above. So the hawse pipe is also located at least half rro a full deck lower on the 055 than on the 052.
The funnels will make or break a ship's lines and overall aesthetic qualities. So far I've seen no clue about how the funnel arrangement will go.
???
The spray is generated by the hull, not anchor. Anchor's placement doesn't affect sea prowess as it all depends on the hull's shape. Keeping all of the equipement under the deck is only a pain in the ass when you're dropping anchor outside of the pier.
That's called fashion. Many warships utilize that nowadays. It doesn't have anything to do with being superior to normal design...
No, Recessed anchor storage is not a fashion statement, it is a functional design element.
Typical modern flared hull forms deflects most of the water outwards away from the the foredeck when the ship is heading into a heavy sea. Inserting a large protruding anchor into the path of the water disrupts the flow and creates the spray that mostly land back on the deck.
The bow sonar dome looks as definitively bulbous as I've ever seen any PLAN ship. If that shape is correctly drawn, it most certainly has an array, and probably a large one. Incidentally, surface ships don't carry spherical arrays, even American ones. The ubiquitous SQS-53 for example is a cylindrical shaped array. You're thinking of subs, and more specifically USN subs, and even then their sonars aren't fully spherical.
An enclosed foredeck has been speculated for this ship for a long time, and the photos that we do have pretty much confirm this rumor already.
Generating spray is far less a concern for a ship with an enclosed foredeck.
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