U.S. Navy Adds 4 New Ship Classes to Its Roster

Fox Business ^ | November 27, 2015 | Rich Smith

[2ndDivisionVet]

So long,Littoral Combat Ship. We hardly knew ye.

Lockheed Martin's USS Freedom (LCS 1) was the Navy's first littoral combat ship. New vessels of the same basic shape and size will henceforth be dubbed "frigates."

Say goodbye to the "Mobile Landing Platform," the "Afloat Forward Staging Base," and the "Joint High Speed Vessel," as well. As of this year, the United States Navy has done away with all four of these clumsy, elongated, ad hoc ship classes, replaced each with a new name -- and introduced a new theme for U.S. war-planning in the process. Henceforth, LCSes will be christened as "frigates," while the other three classes morph into Expeditionary Transfer Docks, Expeditionary Mobile Bases, and Expeditionary Fast Transports, respectively.

So in a word, the U.S. Navy of the future is going to look a whole lot more "expeditionary." This has implications for U.S. foreign policymakers, for its warship-makers -- and for those of us who invest in them as well....

[kvanbrunt2]

Why waste all that weight and bulk for armor when it can be used for missiles and radar?>>>>
sounds like the design of the j zeroes.

[norton]

All the acronyms and letter designations DOD can come up with won't replace "Target" in my humble (ground bound and air delivered) opinion.

Another description might be "good ideas gone bad" except that it would only apply to the original LCS concept.

[Vermont Lt]

A bit of trivia: Name the only ship on the active roster to sink an enemy ship.

[N. Theknow]

USS Constitution?

[NorthMountain]

Probably. Every WWII ship has long since retired, and USN hasn’t done much ship sinking since then. USN airpower sank a frigate, and USN ships sank a gunboat in Operation Praying Mantis. Those ships have all been decommissioned.

[Tallguy]

This is where things get confusing. Some Navy’s use the term “frigate” for a coastal vessel. The USN used to use the term “Destroyer Escort” for ocean-going escort ships, but changed to “frigate” during the Knox-class (or possibly the earlier Brooke-class). I believe that the Knox was originally designated hull “DE-1052”.

[twister881]

Gotta be Old Ironsides, USS Constitution ;-)

[Vermont Lt]

ding ding.....

We have a winner.

[tanknetter]

But it’s “only” the Constitution because the FFG USS Simpson, which sank an Iranian missile boat during Praying Mantis, was decommissioned a little over two months ago ...

[tanknetter]

The Knox class and some predecessors (Garcia class) started as DEs.

They were reclassed as Frigates (FFs) in the 1970s to align our ship classifications to what the rest of NATO and the rest of the world was using for similar ships.

Calling the upgraded LCSs “Frigates” isn’t really all that much of a stretch. It’s just that “frigate” is such a generic term these days. The upgraded LCSs will be on the lower end of the scale, but still within the overall range.

[mad_as_he$$]

USS Constitution.

[patro]

That’s bad... Shower shoes don’t cut it in that situation. I had to boot up. As for the cake dryer, I’m not sure. I was only on for three months before they dropped us off in the ME. I felt bad for the ship’s crew. They def had their work cut out for them.

[Vermont Lt]

Yeah, I read that too.

I just think it is telling that in a Navy as strong as ours, sea battles are a thing of the distant past. At least for now.

And to have to go back to the War of 1812...I don’t know if this should make me happy that we are so strong, or that traditional naval power might not be relevant.

Clearly, projection of power is relevant. And I supposed if we tangled with China, the story would change.

[tanknetter]

Well, the Varyag _is_ called a “Navy Cross waiting to happen” in some circles...

[StoneWall Brigade]

Ping

[cva66snipe]

Twister pretty much stated what is going on in post 8. We have fewer ships and this is an attempt to make it seem on paper that we have ships with capabilities of other classes. Truth is they are shrinking fleet size overall and just like the rest of the armed forces programs deliberately destroying the ones that did work. http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/us-ship-force-levels.html This is the bottom line they wish to confuse with new designations. Granted some ships do need a new classification where one did not exist before. Put in this case it’s putting ribbon on a pig and calling it a poodle. Nothing wrong with either one if you recognize it for what it is. In this case though it isn’t.