Navy ship lives up to its name (HSV-X2 Swift)

Caller-Times ^ | March 13, 2004 | Brad Olson

[SwinneySwitch]

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

[SC Swamp Fox]

[SC Swamp Fox]

[Skwidd]

I saw this ship while I was deployed to the Gulf. Just watching it pull into port is impressive. Traditional ships pull in under control of tugs, their own rudders and engines, etc. The Swift Pulls up next to the pier, stops, and glides to the right all on its own. My jaw dropped when I saw that trick.

[Paradox]

Woo hoo! An Australia bump! They kick ass, and are our friends.

[exit82]

Very,very cool ship bump!

[MonroeDNA]

ships that big going that fast gives me goosebumps.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Great Lakes ore carriers do that all the time. They have front and rear thrusters.
Of course they might not match the speed of this boat...

[ClearCase_guy]

Cool ship from Australia. I wonder if our navy has anything cool in the pipeline.

[tlrugit]

Makes an old destroyerman envious.

[Severa]

An LA class sub like the one my hubby is on can (if need be) pull up to a pier without use of a tug but I imagine that process ain't nearly as pretty as watching the Swift pull up to the pier.

[ThomasPaine2000]

As an old Navy friend of mine once said, 'There are only two ships in the Navy, Submarines and Targets" nuf said.
It is a handsome ship though.

[Lawgvr1955]

What is the function of this type ship? Helicopter platform at sea?? Recon?? Why does it need such speed? Seems you are burning plenty of gas/oil to move around a landing platform.

[FastCoyote]

Gas might not be too bad, it may hydrofoil a bit. In fact, that's guaranteed, otherwise you couldn't get it moving that fast.

[Skwidd]

Yes, most ships can pull in unaided if they need to. But believe me, the Swift pulling in was something to see. It was kind of creepy how quick, quiet, and efficient the operation was.

I'm not really sure what this ship is for; guess I'll have to ask around and find out.

[TMSuchman]

"She" kinda reminds me of the "stealth" ship desgin{sp} the we have been working on.

[SwinneySwitch]

Potential missions:

Mine warfare, Intra-theater lift, Naval special warfare, Riverine operations, Maritime intercept operations, Homeland security, Humanitarian assistance, Littoral access, Troop insertion and extraction; Non-combatant evacuation operations

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1056714/posts

[VOA]

The "stealt ship" was profiled on "California's Gold" (about the best thing on
PBS in California). The host got to tour and take a ride on the boat.
It's a pretty amazing machine.
http://www.calgold.com/visiting/Default.asp?Series=1000&Show=531

[Lawgvr1955]

Potential missions:

Mine warfare, Intra-theater lift, Naval special warfare,...

That explains the need for speed. Mucho Apreciado.

[whipitgood]

Just imagine surfing the wake off this baby!