Posted on 11/30/2015 12:34:13 PM PST by Mariner
BATH, Maine -- The largest destroyer built for the U.S. Navy cuts an imposing figure: massive, with an angular shape, hidden weapons and antennas, and electric-drive propulsion. But underneath the stealthy exterior resides a style of hull that fell out of favor a century ago in part because it can be unstable.
The Navy will soon learn how this modern take on the "tumblehome" hull holds up when the first-in-class Zumwalt heads out to sea in December for builder trials in the rough-and-tumble North Atlantic.
Amy Lent, of the Maine Maritime Museum, which works closely with the shipyard, said taxpayers needn't worry because the Navy and shipbuilder Bath Iron Works have "tested the hell out of it."
"This is an enormous investment. There's so much at stake. They're not slapping something together and sending it out to sea," she said. "I think they're pretty confident. They know what they're doing."
Designers chose the hull style associated with pre-dreadnought battleships, but this warship looks nothing like one from President Theodore Roosevelt's "Great White Fleet."
The inverse bow juts forward to slice through the waves. A composite deckhouse hides radar and antennas, giving it a clean look. Sharp angles deflect radar signals.
Typical of tumblehomes, though, the hull slopes inward above the waterline, giving the Zumwalt something of a pyramid shape. The shape can cause problems in certain conditions, critics say.
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
What, no pea shooter aft?
Looks something like the Merrimack of Civil War fame
Didn’t the Merrimack sink during a storm?
That's why they have sea trials.
It looks like the USS Katahdin from the Spanish-American War to me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Katahdin_(1893)
If they could make the F-117 fly I’m sure they can make this thing float.
fixed link
That was the Monitor. Merrimack was burned twice. Once by the Union to keep her from falling into Confederate hands, and again by the Confederates (as CSS Virginia) to keep her from falling into Union hands.
Unless it is designed to tip over and then right itself... Just saying
Do a little reading on A/B ratios
They don’t make anything like they used to.
“Why is that ship upside down?..............B^)”
So it will be extremely stable when turned ‘turtle’. (180° out of intended trim) :^
Das Schiff ist sehr stabil. Es sank.....
As a Professional Engineer it was my attempt to make a joke for how to get out of trouble...
Looks like an iron clad or a sub.
Das Schiff ist sehr stabil. Es sank...
Laut lauchen!!!
No it was USS Monitor that sank in a storm. USS Merrimack was burned at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. When the Confederates took over the yard, they raised the Merrimack, rebuilt her and christened her CSS Virginia.
No it was USS Monitor that sank in a storm. USS Merrimack was burned at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. When the Confederates took over the yard, they raised the Merrimack, rebuilt her and christened her CSS Virginia. The crew of the CSS Virginia scuttled her near Craney Island in Hampton Roads.
Active Duty ping.
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