Beautiful boat ain't she? I hope to get to see how beautiful the Independence looks when she is at sea as well.

WOW

I only saw artist renditions of what she would look like when completed

She does have some nice lines.
I wonder what her electronic counter measures are? top speed and such etc.

Thanks from beutifull pics!

- What is the main armament?
- What is her task?

How many of her is all ready made, and will be produced?

Thanks!

USS freedom sounds ominous like USS Liberty

I'm waiting for the USS Justice and the USS Wupass

DDG 1000 Zumwalt destroyer

$11 billion on research and development over 1o years.
$10 billion to build 2 ships out of the original order of 32.

Total cost?

$21 billion for 2 fat Arleigh Burkes. I guess we cant think of anything else to spend our money on?


[edit on 30-7-2008 by METACOMET]

Lol Slayer! You slay me! Or the USS Impeachment or USS get these bums out of Congress.

What a bunch of dummies..both the Navy and the Commercial sector.

I read some of the articles and see what a cluster ....you know what it is in this constructiion of this ship.

There is a learning curve to be absorbed by any company in the construction of any vessel until all trades become familiar with the proceedures and techniques to be overcome in any construction.
You also do not constantly change designs while under construction...or design as you construct. This causes huge problems and delays. Certain sections of a vessel must be completed before you construct other compartments over these areas. THe very heavy equipment and machinery is often mounted into a compartment and then the compartment built around it. Then other compartments built over and around that one. YOu dont build all these compartments and then change the design to a new one...that involves huge costs and delays.

This other company..down in Alabama...Austal...they are known for building aluminum ferry boats. They are also known for having welding problems in thier hulls. The ferrys sent to Hawaii...developed cracks in the hull and had to be drydocked while fixing these problems.
This same company Austal..is building an aluminum hulled landing ship for the Navy/Marines. I hope they dont use the same welders on this Navy/Marine ship.

Also ..anyone versed in the trade knows...commercial standards in construction are mostly unsuitable for military vessels. Welding requirements for military vessels are much higher and more stringent than are commercial ships. I have been on commercial ships and looked at the structural welds in the bilges and along the vertical ribs going up the hulls. Some of these commercial ships I have seen do not even have full beads of weld going up the rib structures. At first I was astonished at this. I have seen a rib...T-bar...welded for some 12 inchs, then a hole cut out....then another 12 inchs of weld on both sides of this rib...another hole cut out...followed by another 12 inchs of weld ..both sides.
This type of commerical construction will never do for a military ship.

An Aircraft carrier is built with a very heavy thick T-bar as a rib..100 per cent weld up both sides and a heavy duty weld at that . Double hull construction in critical machinery spaces. No scrimping here...commercial standards will not do.
Alot of your bolts and other fasteners are not the stuff you get commercially at Home Depot, Lowes, or Auto Zone. These are specially acquired....and simply will not do with commercial stuff.

I swear....some of these designers, engineers, and shipyard presidents need to ride some of their ships out into a hell of a sh-t storm to see if their product will hold up...with these commercial standard they are trying to pawn off on the Navy and the public. Put their own behinds on the line and see if they are real "Believers."

It is one thing to sit behind a computer screen ..and take a guess based on statistics and probabilitys ...its is another thing entirely to stare into the fury of mother nature ...and then look at your on line screen data...hope and pray it is correct.

These ships look to me like in the first big rough storm they go through ...these ships will fail..be bent or break up....if they are using commercial standards....especially aluminum. I hope for the sake of he sailors serving on them that I am incorrect.

Orangetom

Excuse the ignorance of naval protocal, but where are the U.S. colors?

Looks like two Scottish Flags that are waving. Not that I have a problem with that

Some ships are sexier than others it would seem.

The USS Moneypit and the USS Wespentwhat are two of the latest hightech vessels afloat!

Deal with it!

Looking at numbers like that makes me think that a LOT of the money went into black projects. Come on folks, it doesn't cost 20 billion dollars for TWO destroyers.

Harlequin,

Years ago in this yard I saw the USS Belknap in this yard for quick repairs of about 5 days and then she was out again. It was a couple of days before the name rang a bell with me as to exactly what the history of the ship was and its association with the name.

That, Harlequin was a horrible ...horrible ...horrible accident. If I recall the events correctly they were along side of the carrier taking on fuel and did an emergency breakaway..a standard emergency maneuver. Either the carrier USS John F, Kennedy or the Belknap made a wrong turn and the aircraft elevator sheered off the upper decks of the Belknap.

When I saw her...like the USS Cole ..the Bellknap had been repaired and was back in service.
Nonetheless...these accidents do happen as is the nature of the tasks to which our Navys are assigned. It is always tragic when it occurs.

The US Navy has a big firefighting school over across the bay in Norfolk., Virginia and all sailors must attend. There are other firefighting schools in the US Navy around the country but all are required for every sailor no matter what their normal occupations. This is a result of the tragedy on the USS Forestall...another very hard learned lesson.

Thanks,
Orangetom

[edit on 31-7-2008 by orangetom1999]

why do i have a real gut feeling of deja vu when i see these new ships - lessons hard and fataly learnt are being consigned to history (

Interesting stuff.

I'm wondering why the mid-ships superstructure goes flush with the hull?
A low radar cross-section to improve stealth?

Looks like you'd have to enter through a door at the front if you were going bow to stern instead of walking down the side.

Wouldn't that compromise safety in a storm?
For the ship as well as for the sailor.

What are the big double doors at the back for?

Am I understanding correctly that this is a destroyer?

I see a lot of confusion in this thread. The original poster has posted photos of USS Freedom, LCS-1 as she undergoes builder's trials on Lake Michigan. It's one of two competing designs (The other being the LCS-2 Independence) for the Littoral Combat Ship, a small, fast, lightweight vessel for in-shore combat and landing support.

The destroyers being mentioned as canceled at just 2, or $5 Billion each, or $20 billion for two are the DDG-1000 Zumwalt class destroyers. Those have not been built to date, so you won't find pictures of them "at sea." There's some debate between what the real pricetag for those ships will be, but they're not particularly similar to the LCS in any meaningful way. The DDG-1000's are built to be the ultimate destroyer (in fact, they're the size of a cruiser); the LCS is intended to be small, fast, and order in much larger quantity.