Posted on 05/27/2012 9:06:09 PM PDT by moonshot925
The USS Gerald R. Ford, a huge new aircraft carrier, reached a milestone in its pricey and extensive construction Thursday when its final keel section was lowered into place at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia.
The 680-metric-ton lower bow unit is one of the largest of the 500 modules that will make up the completed ship and is over 60-feet-tall.
The bulbous bow seen in the picture shifts water flow around the hull, reducing drag and thus increasing speed, range, fuel efficiency, and stability. Carriers with bulbous bows have achieve about 12 to 15 percent increased fuel efficiency than vessels without them.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-uss-gerald-r-ford-reaches-a-construction-milestone-2012-5?op=1#ixzz1w8MTW7yd
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Ahemz
“reducing drag and thus increasing speed, range, fuel efficiency, and stability”
The speed and stability increases are independent of the power source.
Let’s hope it doesn’t fall down the stairs.
Somewhat. There is a post on another thread a while back that said the older KH class conventionals and even the Forestall class out preformed the Nimitz class in speed because of hull design. Big E was the exception on the nukes because she was a modified KH class design which for the era makes sense. Post 56 another thread
All carriers even in the Forestall class except Forestall which was the last 600psi powered carrier seemed to have higher flank speed than a Nimitz class because of hull design.
WOW... by moving the island so far aft, they have significantly reduced the size of the junkyard... i guess they do not expect aircraft to go down while on the deck...
Magslinger has a NavAir ping list. Haven’t heard anything from him since the beginning of April.
X/208 = 1.35
X = 280.8
Shore Power: Nimitz Class 4.16 kV; Ford Class 13.8 kV
How’d you like to haul that cable up the gangplank?
It does matter...the more efficient the hull design the less wear and tear on the propulsion plant, and the less power that needs to be generated by the reactor plant.
This 12-15 percent increase in efficiency translates directly to increased service life of both the reactor and the propulsion plant. This translates directly to more time at sea for the USS Ford.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.