Posted on 10/20/2014 4:28:09 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Remarkably good writeup. Much better than the usual.
(Must not have been written by a US ABCNNBCBS Obola-phile...
War Is Boring generally has good articles. Another decent site is this one.
>> the machine oven compartment to the water pipes.
Hey! That’s the same guy that writes the tech manuals that come with stuff you buy at Wal-Mart!
They need to steal more technology
Carriers on the cheap......A target not likely to be met.
Their main source Bill has been out of the loop for too long.
Sounds like a high water casualty or pipe failure in the super-heated steam area for the boiler based on the description.
They must be spending too much time on Chinese Fire Drills to keep the ship operating properly.
Though later they make it sound like a low-water casualty....
High water is worse for the turbines, low water is more likely to fail the boiler piping. They make it sound like the low water isn’t such a bad thing, but both take down the plant catastrophically. One requires a turbine refit, one a boiler piping refit. If steam broke out its was most likely a complete failure in one or the other.
On Independence two boilers per shaft/propeller. 8 boilers total.
"Live Stem"
Buying a former Russian carrier is about the worst thing any Navy could do.
India has spent a decade—and billions of dollars—trying to get “Vikramaditya” (a former Kiev-class helicopter carrier) back in service. They have discovered that many of the components were actually produced outside Russia and that some of the vendors are no longer in business. Of course, Moscow will be happy to fabricate a new component, but that will take time and Delhi pays through the nose.
Actually, I have very little sympathy for the Indians in this matter; they’ve been buying military hardware from Russia for decades and they know the “low” price gets you the tank, plane, ship or sub; if you want maintenance, spare parts and “service after the sale,” that will cost you more—a lot more in most cases.
It will be interesting to see how far the Chinese go in reverse-engineering their Russian-designed carrier. It will be difficult to project power to distant points on the globe if your battle group has to include a sea-going tug to pull the carrier when its boilers fail en masse.
I am surprised, considering the extensive rebuilding/reengineering the Chinese did do on this ship, that they did not choose to avoid the well-known problems attendant with high pressure steam (especially with Soviet designs) by installing the gas turbine/diesel electric combination being adopted for many modern warship designs.
Is it the case that a sufficiently large gas turbine/diesel electric combination simply is too large for the space that would be made available by removing the high pressure boilers and steam turbines?
A toy carrier built by those who "pretend to work because their employer pretends to pay" would just have to be more dangerous to its crew than anything else. Well, it would also be dangerous when it attempts to dock.
Confucius say man who buy used fishing boat get steamed clam.
Ping.
GTs are great for the smaller tonnage up to cruiser size, but there’s more than just moving the ship involved.
Carrier loads vary a significant amount more than a standard surface combatant with elevators, aircraft applications, arresting gear, etc. Of course, we also use steam for our catapult systems so it is almost a requirement to go that route for us.
From a propulsion standpoint GTs can be more efficient, but for pushing sheer mass steam is a more appropriate choice given the tradeoffs. Our decision to go nuclear power for the carriers was one of the best strategic moves ever made in my insignificant opinion.
She’ll get 300 hectares on a single tank of kerosene. Put it in “H”.
The real problem, here, is built by those who "pretend to work because their employer pretends to pay.
If the Chicoms want a carrier they can trust, they'll have to build their own ... and do a better job than the Russians ever did. This beast may end up being an albatross around their necks.
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