Posted on 11/29/2015 11:24:59 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
And, to add, the Germans were something of a special case, given that they built under (and circumvented) the Versailles restrictions. The Panzershiffs weren’t Battleships in any sense of the word, the Scharnhorsts were more akin to undergunned battlecruisers or overgunned large cruisers (like the Alaskas) with the Bismarks being the only ships comparable to other nations WWII BB classes.
The claimed design displacement.
The Lexington class carriers claimed design displacement was around 30k or 33k. But they were considerably higher in execution.
The SoDaks were an interesting case in cramming the guns and machinery into a very short hull. They were seriously cramped and overloaded ships, not really considered successful. The preceding Washingtons, which started design as 14” gun ships, were in many respects better.
“So what happens if the onboard computer stabilization system is knocked out, either in combat or by electrical failure?”
That system is unlikely to fail unless there is a general systems/power failure. In that case, in combat, the ship is effectively neutralized anyway for all military purposes. And a sitting duck.
Hah.
So it was all about keeping billets.
Interesting how many important decisions (this isn’t one of them, who cares what the ships are called, but there may well have been others in the procurement/force design process) that are mostly about penny-ante concerns.
It’s been a few years since last I was at sea but I recall “losing the load” to be an unfortunately frequent occurrence. It’s a very unsettling experience to find yourself in a silent, completely dark metal box that is moving around under you. Mr. Flashlight was my friend.
Funny enough, when the Iowas were recommissioned in the 80s one of the rationales was they provided four more O6 SWO sea command billets.
The USN now has more O7s and above than they have ships.
Just sayin’
However there’s no way that the Zumwalts are “destroyers”. They are only called that because they were intended to replace the VLS\Land Attack Spruances with an Aegis-equipped variant that would have the CG designation and replace the Ticos.
IOW it was all PR and spin nonsense to help get and keep the program funded. Just like the F-35 light attack jet being called a “fighter”
“The USN now has more O7s and above than they have ships.”
That is pretty sad isn’t it. The bloat of bureaucracy everywhere, with more chiefs than indians in every part of life. Private sector included.
My daughter served on a supply tender that tended to lose power at odd moments.
I found it rather appalling this ship was also ordnance resupply for the carrier group.
Sad. That class of heavy cruiser was very tough and also very beautiful.
This series was almost a 4/5 of a BB, it seemed.
The Des Moines was a public relations ship. It never fired a gun in anger.
Of the three sisters, USS Newport News saw extensive combat providing gunfire support off Vietnam. Suffered a turret explosion in the center gun of it’s #2 turret that was never repaired.
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