Tim Zielenbach/Caller-Times The Navy’s HSV-X2 Swift departs Naval Station Ingleside on a demonstration tour with military and local civilian officials on board on Friday. The ship reached a top speed of nearly 51 mph during the outing
Posted on 03/13/2004 5:22:59 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
HSV-X2 Swift flies at nearly 51 mph.
Call her Swift.
If only poor Ahab had commanded the HSV-X2 Swift instead of the Pequod, he might have turned Moby Dick into mincemeat.
That much was obvious Friday afternoon when the Navy showed off the capabilities of the high-speed vessel that's serving as the command ship for the mine warfare fleet at Naval Station Ingleside.
With the ability to travel at speeds up to nearly 50 knots, the Swift could have easily caught and overrun the fictional white whale. She could have even sped past him as she did to numerous skiffs, jetties and oil rigs Friday when Navy officials offered local civilian and military luminaries a ride aboard the latest in naval technology.
The Navy leased the Swift from Australian shipbuilder Bollinger/_Incat in August for $21.7 million for the first year. The lease can extend to four years, 11 months if all options are exercised.
Petty Officer Second Class William Newberry said he often feels spoiled as a crewmember of the Swift.
"It's not your standard naval vessel," he said. "It's got better racks (beds), a better mess area and the teamwork is better because of the size of the crew."
Looking out over the flight deck of the Swift, which he said was about twice the size of similar areas on destroyers where helicopters land, Newberry seemed to take in the whole of the Swift, and his experiences on it.
"She's a beautiful ship," he said.
The deck, or the main space inside the ship, looks like an empty warehouse. Since the Swift operates in so many different capacities, the vacancy is often filled with equipment for myriad missions. Today, since the mission was to take some local people for a ride, the deck was mostly empty.
Once the Swift reached top speed on the voyage, water flew up 15 to 20 feet in the air from behind the two hulls of the catamaran like an upside-down waterfall. It whisked by skiffs, oil rigs and other vessels, reaching a top speed of 44 knots, or about 51 mph.
The ride wasn't rocky or sea-like at all. The Swift rode so smoothly, and at such a high speed, it almost seemed to cut through the ocean and tame the unruly waves, an unusual feat for a ship of its size.
Hayley Rasnick, the battalion commander of the Navy Junior ROTC cadets at Flour Bluff High School, said getting out of class to ride the Swift was a nice segue into spring break. It was her first time at sea.
"My stomach's feeling it right now," she said. "This is so awesome, though. If this is the future of the Navy, this is great."
Petty Officer First Class Tim Cole, who has spent most of his time on amphibious vehicles or hovercrafts, said the Swift is the fastest ship he'd ever been on.
Cole said being a crewmember on the vessel has given him many chances to brag to fellow sailors.
"When you tell them how fast it goes, they're like, holy cow," Cole said. "There just aren't many ships that go that fast. Maybe a yacht. Maybe."
Petty Officer First Class Gary Allbee said serving on the Swift, and its older cousin, the HSV-X1 Joint Venture, offered him an unexpected chance to be deployed early on in some of the latest military operations in the Middle East.
"Usually, you're 2,000 miles away launching Tomahawk missiles," Allbee said. "Here, you feel like you're doing a much bigger part, really helping out with the war effort."
Petty Officer First Class Mike Daniels, a navigator on the Swift, said the technology on the ship allows him to plot a course much faster than he has been able to on other ships.
"We're the only ship in the Navy that can go out without paper charts," he said. "It's all computerized, and it takes a fraction of the time. For example, we got diverted once and it took five minutes to make a new route. For a regular ship, it would take four or five hours."
Contact Brad Olson at 886-3764 or olsonb@caller.com
Tim Zielenbach/Caller-Times The Navy’s HSV-X2 Swift departs Naval Station Ingleside on a demonstration tour with military and local civilian officials on board on Friday. The ship reached a top speed of nearly 51 mph during the outing
I'm not really sure what this ship is for; guess I'll have to ask around and find out.
Mine warfare, Intra-theater lift, Naval special warfare,...
That explains the need for speed. Mucho Apreciado.
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