Aircraft Carriers II (Closed to posting)
- Thread starter Jeff Head
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Depends on the speed. Not long a at "Flank speed" Just a few minutes. You have to remember in the picture above the Reagan is empty. No ordanance, no airwing probaly minimun avation fuel.
Neutral Zone
Junior Member
I feel seasick just looking at the pic!
The wake behind the ship gives a good idea about how much energy is needed to drive a CVN at flank speed. I read once that another advantage of nuclear propulsion is that while a conventionally powered ship needs some time to build up pressure in her boilers, with nuclear it is just like pressing the accelerator in your car, you have this huge reserve of power immediately available. Very useful in a combat scenario!
The wake behind the ship gives a good idea about how much energy is needed to drive a CVN at flank speed. I read once that another advantage of nuclear propulsion is that while a conventionally powered ship needs some time to build up pressure in her boilers, with nuclear it is just like pressing the accelerator in your car, you have this huge reserve of power immediately available. Very useful in a combat scenario!
Pointblank
Senior Member
That's compared to the old steam powerplants... gas turbined power ships also have that instant acceleration.
Wow, now that's a fantastic pic Big Daddy!
Glad I wasn't onboard though with my landlubber legs, might have led to some gastronomical unpleasantness. Even empty, for such a large vessel to be that nimble is just astonishing.
Steam has to be produced by the application of heat to water, and it doesn't matter if the heat is coming from oil fired boilers or a nuclear powerplant, water still takes the same amount of time to boil. Bringing extra boilers on line can take longer than increasing the output from a reactor which is where the time difference between the two can occur, but the fastest acceleration for any type of warship comes from gas turbines, as no water boiling is involved at all. An Invincible class CVS can reach 'flank' speed in one minute from a gentle 14 knots cruising speed, not bad for 20,000tons. It all 'boils' down to what your need is and what you can afford, Nuclear gives you virtually unlimited range and more internal volume for aircraft fuel, but is hideously expensive (adding 30 to 50% to the cost of buying the ship), Whereas the older oil fired steam plants are manpower intensive and difficult to maintain over the life of the ship (when the engines wear out, you may as well scrap the ship as it will cost less to build a new one than replace the engines and boilers). Gas Turbines are low volume (ie less ship-impact for the engine room, though the downtakes and uptakes are larger), require less manpower to operate and can be replaced easily and regularly, allowing the ship to remain in service longer.
Wow, now that's a fantastic pic Big Daddy!
Even empty, for such a large vessel to be that nimble is just astonishing.
It's not so bad really. You are given a warning to "take a brace"(Hold on tight) during these sea-trials.
Usally how it starts is a high speed run at 30+ knots for a certain period of time which I will not disclose. Then at high speed going foward the screws are suddenly reversed and the ship move backwards. No kidding. Generally then another high speed run foward starts and then those high speed turns. You just have to hold on and make sure everything is well secured.
The Jedi in the UK observes;
So true. The USS Constellation CV-64 operated with only three of it's four powerplants most of its last several years in service. How her sister ship Kitty Hawk remains in service at 46+ years of age is a testimony to those who built her and now maintain her. Kitty Hawk is due to be retired late next year.
Tasman
Junior Member
When we look at the 40-50 years service that the USN has been able to get out of its big carriers it not only demonstrates how well built and maintained they are it also demonstrates that they have given excellent value for the money spent building them. The designers also did an exceptional job in planning for future growth capacity to incorporate new (and at the time unknown) types of aircraft, sensors and weapons. A lesson for future designs perhaps!
Tas
I found these pictures of the USN operating on the S. Korean LPX Dokdo. From what I understand the ROKN is waiting for funding to finish outfitting the ship with helos. If I see more pix at navy.mil I will post them.
Hyuga-class aircraft carrier and the challenges the PLAN will face
There are some links with interesting information:
Hyuga-class aircraft carrier and the challenges the PLAN will face
This is Japan’s first true aircraft carrier since World War 2, officially designated as a “helicopter destroyer” for political reasons. The JMSDF is making big progress in blue water capabilities. Some aspects of the ship are superior to most other carriers around the world. It has a sophisticated combat system similar to a scaled down AEGIS. It is powered by two very efficient GE LM2500 gas turbines, allowing it to sustain high cruising speeds for long periods of time. It is arguably the most advanced light CV in the world, more sophisticated than the Europeans CVs like Cavour, Principe De Asturias and Invincible.
Considering Japan already operates the largest and the most advanced destroyer fleet in the world outside the US Navy, the Hyuga-class have the potential to make JMSDF a true blue water navy comparable to the British Royal Navy, Russian Navy or Marine Nationale in overall capabilities. The ship is capable of carrying STOVL jets like Harrier and F-35B. Even without fixed wing jets, it still able to carry helicopters capable of ASW, making it a big threat to PLAN’s submarines and surface combatants.
Because the Hyuga will be escorted by the most advanced destroyers in the world (lets not mention the possibilities of USN involvement for now), currently there are no effective ways for PLAN to counter it. One possible method is use ships with relatively strong anti-surface armaments (Luda, Sovremenny, etc), along with large number of multirole aircrafts (JH-7, Su-30, J-8II, J-7). A significant fleet of advanced submarines is required for such operations as well.
There are some links with interesting information:
Hyuga-class aircraft carrier and the challenges the PLAN will face
This is Japan’s first true aircraft carrier since World War 2, officially designated as a “helicopter destroyer” for political reasons. The JMSDF is making big progress in blue water capabilities. Some aspects of the ship are superior to most other carriers around the world. It has a sophisticated combat system similar to a scaled down AEGIS. It is powered by two very efficient GE LM2500 gas turbines, allowing it to sustain high cruising speeds for long periods of time. It is arguably the most advanced light CV in the world, more sophisticated than the Europeans CVs like Cavour, Principe De Asturias and Invincible.
Considering Japan already operates the largest and the most advanced destroyer fleet in the world outside the US Navy, the Hyuga-class have the potential to make JMSDF a true blue water navy comparable to the British Royal Navy, Russian Navy or Marine Nationale in overall capabilities. The ship is capable of carrying STOVL jets like Harrier and F-35B. Even without fixed wing jets, it still able to carry helicopters capable of ASW, making it a big threat to PLAN’s submarines and surface combatants.
Because the Hyuga will be escorted by the most advanced destroyers in the world (lets not mention the possibilities of USN involvement for now), currently there are no effective ways for PLAN to counter it. One possible method is use ships with relatively strong anti-surface armaments (Luda, Sovremenny, etc), along with large number of multirole aircrafts (JH-7, Su-30, J-8II, J-7). A significant fleet of advanced submarines is required for such operations as well.
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