Aircraft Carriers

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bd popeye

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Is it that difficult to transfer steam from the boilers to the catapults?

I do not know. I really do not. Look at it this way. The Russian expermited with steam catapults and gave up because they could not figure it out. The French have US "cat's" on R91. And when faced with major repair problems the call on Northrup-Grumman to fix the problem. Granted this story is 4 years old but I'm sure it still holds true.

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bd popeye

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I finally found a pic of the proposed Aussie LHD type ship. I guess there's a real battle royal in the land down under on how to finance and outfit the ship. No ski ramp????

2boataug26.jpg

2boatsmallaug26.jpg
 

Obi Wan Russell

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I never thought catapult technology was a sensitive military secret. I guess I was wrong. To think of it, only France is the only nation that have it and they got it from the US.

Is it that difficult to transfer steam from the boilers to the catapults?

I have wondered about this myself. Steam Catapult technology isn't that complicated, and the first ones went to sea back in the early 50s little more than two years after being concieved. India had an operational steam catapult fitted to INS Vikrant between 1961 and 1983, so the principles are well known to them. Any country with an adequate heavy engineering industry (and this surely includes India, I know as I helped ship a lot of British manufacturing plant out there, BIG stuff) should be able to produce their own catapults. If the Indian engineering industry can produce complex modern warships and aircraft, then a double slotted cylinder 200ft long and the associated pipework shouldn't be a problem (I know I'm simplifying a bit, but the point is still valid; Steam catapults are not rocket science, just heavy engineering).
 

Obi Wan Russell

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I finally found a pic of the proposed Aussie LHD type ship. I guess there's a real battle royal in the land down under on how to finance and outfit the ship. No ski ramp????

[qimg]http://www.defence.gov.au/news/armynews/editions/1104/images/2boataug26.jpg[/qimg]
[qimg]http://www.defence.gov.au/news/armynews/editions/1104/images/2boatsmallaug26.jpg[/qimg]

The Aussies have deleted the ski jump (so far) probably due to pressure from the RAAF who, having destroyed the RAN Fleet air Arm once have no intention of seeing it resurected as a rival to themselves. Thus the Aussies are only talking about the LHDs as troop transports with a heli deck and not potential carriers. Some Aussie politicians are using this stance to campaign for cancellation of the ships and replacing them with 12,000ton LPDs which they feel would more closely meet Australian requirements. They are also using the "Why should we have carriers when the Americans can do that job for us?" argument, which as I have pointed out before, isn't very fair on the USA. Why should they take all the risk on behalf of their allies? Contributing carriers to a joint campaign earns a lot of capital in Washington even if they only constitute a small percentage of the overall force, and that alone justifies their construction.
 

bd popeye

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It really sucks when politicans make military decisions...Man do we Americans know about that! Enough said. Don't want to get into politics...

Did you guys hear about the USS Intrepid getting stuck in the mud in New York as she was susposed to go to Bayonne NJ for some re-furbishment.? Seems there's a lot of silt and mud unerneath her..Don't you think they would have sent divers down to check underneath the ship that has been stationary for 24 years? Jeez...Or if somebody woulda tied a rock to a string to check the depth of the water..maybe just maybe:confused:

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(AP) After 24 years at the same Hudson River pier, the legendary aircraft carrier USS Intrepid was inched out of its berth by powerful tugboats on Monday — but the trip never got under way because it got stuck in the mud as the tide went down.

The mission was scrubbed for the day at around 10:30 a.m., according to Dan Bender, a Coast Guard spokesman. There was no immediate word when the effort would resume.

Six powerful tugboats were guiding the massive vessel out of its berth after crew members symbolically cast off a mooring line. Helicopters flew overhead and police, Coast Guard and other ships were gathered on the river. Ship horns blared and a police band played.

But the Intrepid's giant propellers got stuck in the mud as the tugboats strained to move the behemoth. It eventually began inching backward out of its berth, but moved only a few feet.

"We knew it was not going to come out like a cruise ship," said Matt Woods, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum's vice president for operations.

The legendary aircraft carrier is being moved to New Jersey for a $60 million overhaul.

Monday's departure was timed to take advantage of yearly high tide so the tugs could pull the 27,000-ton ship, which no longer generates its own power, out of the slip where it has rested in up to 17 feet of mud. Removal of 600 tons of water from the Intrepid's ballast tanks gave the ship added buoyancy, and dredges removed 15,000 cubic yards of mud to create a channel from dockside to deeper water.

"We were able to move her 15 feet, and then she came to a halt. We tried to add more power with another tugboat but we couldn't wiggle her free," said Jeffrey McAllister, the chief pilot of the tugboat operation.

"We were missing our open window. We had to give up because the tides were going down," he added. "She was moving, we were hopeful, she started to creep along but then she stopped."

"It was very disappointing," said McAllister.

The World War II flattop, which also served in the Korean and Vietnam wars, will return in 2008 to a rebuilt pier, to resume its mission as the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, drawing hundreds of thousands of tourists a year.

Retired Rear Adm. J. Lloyd "Doc" Abbot, 80, who served two years as Intrepid's skipper in 1960-62, was named honorary commander for the day.

"It was the best job I ever had," Abbot said Monday, standing once again on the ship's deck. "Intrepid had a soul of her own. How can a hunk of iron have a soul, you may ask. But I loved her. She kept me safe and at times I kept her safe."

Hector Giannesca stood on the flight deck Monday morning.

"On March 25, 1944, I was standing on this deck almost in the exact spot as today when a kamikaze crashed into the deck and killed 79 of my shipmates. I was spared," he said.

The carrier's $60 million refurbishment will include opening up more interior spaces to the public, upgrading its exhibits and a bow-to-stern paint job in naval haze-gray. Pier 86 will also be completely rebuilt in the Intrepid's absence. The city is contributing $17 million, the state $5 million, the federal government $36 million, plus $2 million in private funds.

The Intrepid, launched in 1943, is one of four Essex-class carriers still afloat six decades after spearheading the naval defeat of Japan in the Pacific. It survived five kamikaze suicide attacks and lost 270 crewmen in battle.

Doomed to the scrap heap, it was purchased in 1981 to be turned into a museum by real estate developer Zachary Fisher.

It became one of New York's major tourist attractions, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, drawing some 700,000 visitors a year. It also supports a Fallen Heroes Fund that has provided $14 million to aid families of service members killed and wounded in the line of duty and built a $35 million advanced training facility for disabled veterans.
 

bd popeye

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The first operationl Ospery squadrons have already been comissioned and are due for possible deployment somewhere next year.

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The USN has only two command ships. Not three. I have no idea when either the Blue Ridge or Mount Whitney will be decomissioned.

Excellent idea to convert the an LHA to a command ship. There is so much space on an LHA I really don't see any reason to modify the hangar. The hangar is not that big on an LHA. Vehicle parking spaces could be modified as well as the well deck which could be reduced in size.
 

Obi Wan Russell

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I thinnk the article was referring to the converted LPD USS La Salle AGF3 (ex LPD3) although my info is a little out of date. Is she still in commission? I agree about the idea of using an LHD as the basis for a replacement, although are we talking about a single ship or up to three? and would these be custom built for the job or conversions of existing vessels, and if the latter, would new ships be built to replace them in their primary role? If no extra ships will be provided then the logical step is to substitute LHAs which are soon to leave service anyway, refitting them for the role on top of a SLEP to keep them operational for another twenty years. The LHA design is only marginally less capable than the LHD so any loss of capability is marginal. Surely a better way of recycling old LHAs than using them for target practice...
 

bd popeye

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The USS LaSalle (AGF 3) was decommisisoned 25 May 2005. The other AGF the Coronado was to be decomissioned on 30 Sept. this year. But I cannot find on line that the ship was decomissioned.

I want the USN to maintain the LHA as a command ship or some such function. I'm pretty sure however that the USN has no such plans. It makes me wonder what the USN plans to do about command ships.:confused:

Another use for the LHA would be as a "pocket" Aircraft carrier. Outfitted with JSF, AEW Merlin's:) and SH-60's.
 

bd popeye

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It has been mentioned in this and other CV threads that the US should "sell off" it's decomissioned CV's. Below are some pics of the ships in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton WA USA.

Note the condition of the flight decks. the catapults and JBD's ahve been removed. Look at the mast. Barren. To re-activate one of these ships would cost billions of US $$$$$. The Ranger's flight deck looks well preserved.

From left to right in the first pic are Independence, Constellation & Ranger. The USS John C Stennis(CVN-74) is barely seen to the far right.

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