Posted on 01/16/2005 6:49:14 PM PST by nickcarraway
PASCAGOULA -- Sitting dockside at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems' Ingalls shipyard, the amphibious transport dock ship Mesa Verde towered above the crowd assembled for its christening and the nearby Aegis destroyer Kidd.
"It looks like a mesa in the water," Peter Pino, Zia Pueblo tribal administrator, said after the ceremony. "Because of the size and the shape of it, if you took it out into the desert and put it out there in the middle of the desert, it's certainly big enough to pass for a mesa. It's true to its name."
Pino represented 24 Pueblo tribes affiliated with the Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, for which the ship is named, at the christening.
"It's really an honor to represent those 24 tribes to come here to Mississippi to be part of the blessing ceremony of Mesa Verde," he said. "It's a great honor to have the name Mesa Verde for a ship. It's honoring the 24 tribes." Mesa Verde is the third ship in the Navy's LPD 17 class of landing platform dock ships and the first built and christened in Pas-cagoula.
It represents the latest in a new class of modern, 21st Century amphibious warships built to carry U.S. Marines and their equipment as part of an expeditionary strike force under the Marine Corps Seabase objective, a new amphibious warfare doctrine that involves supporting amphibious operations from ships at sea rather than from land-based supply areas.
The program, which is expected to be in place by 2010, envisions the strike force supply ships operating as floating warehouses to provide the necessary equipment for war.
"This ship will be fast," said Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Pete Osman, deputy commandant for manpower and reserve affairs. "It will bring Seabase to reality and allow us to project our power as never been seen before.
"This ship also allows us the capability of taking a lot more cargo than we have been able to have on previous LPDs. It allows us to project ashore the most potent weapon we have -- the 800 Marines embarked (on board)."
Osman called Mesa Verde a sophisticated 21st century warfighting weapon.
"We know this ship is going into harm's way. We must hope and pray that God will watch over it and the sailors and Marines who sail on it."
"This ship is immensely more capable than the ships it replaces," said Navy Un-dersecretary Dionel M. Aviles.
One major feature, he said, is the Mesa Verde's ability to operate the different types of combat equipment that the Marine Corps brings to an expeditionary strike group, such as the MV-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles.
"It's truly a 21st Century capability for the expeditionary force," he said.
The ship, Aviles said, represents a commitment by Americans to win the War on Terror and sends a powerful message that the U.S. will defend its freedom.
"It will be an important part of a powerful deterrent and sends a message that, if necessary, we are capable of delivering overwhelming combat power anywhere in the world," he said.
"The U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps exist to protect and defend the American people and to protect the sovereign power of the United States anywhere on earth," he said.
"Mesa Verde is a warship, and with a warrior spirit and a crew of sailors and Marines will take the fight to enemies of freedom wherever they may hide as this nation with its allies continues the fight against global terrorism."
The ship will also be capable of providing humanitarian aid, Aviles said, pointing out that much of the United States' relief effort to tsunami victims in east Asia and India is being provided through ships from Navy carrier and expeditionary strike groups.
Mesa Verde's christening comes several weeks after news accounts indicated that the Navy has proposed cutting its shipbuilding budget, which includes cutting the proposed number of LPD 17 class ships from 12 to nine, with no LPD purchases after 2008.
Aviles declined after the ceremony to address the shipbuilding budgets or the LPD program.
"The president's budget hasn't been released yet," he said. "It comes up in February, so we don't talk about specifics while that's still being developed."
Aviles, however, said that expeditionary warfare is an extremely important part of our Navy and Marine Corps "and in terms of that combat capability that we provide, an LPD 17 is an integral part of that.
"It is an integral part of where we intend to take sea basing and also the concept of expeditionary warfare going into the future."
The Mesa Verde's ceremony involved a mix of military custom and the centuries old traditions of the ancient Na-tive American culture that lived and thrived in the area that is the ship's namesake.
"There are many things this nation could learn from them. They were a peaceful people. They lived very close to their families," said retired U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, husband of the ship's sponsor, Linda Campbell.
"They had no diseases as such, not even a common cold. They had no crime, no prisons. Indeed, they were a culture that today many people believe, that if we had a chance to learn some of the things that they did, we'd be better off for it."
The traditional christening ceremony was mingled with the tradition of an older civilization as Pino called upon the spirits of the an-cient tribes to bless the ship and its crew.
"What I was praying for is that the ship Mesa Verde knows a lot of peace and if war comes its way that it be there to protect the people of the United States and protect the people of the world," he said.
"Hopefully, in my opening song, I was reaching out to the spirits, inviting them to join in the celebration and to assist us to bless the ship and the occupiers."
pics?
ping
Next Christmas... I want one.
Semper Fi
Christmas after that, my son's life will likely be dependent on of these things. I'm glad they are in service in time to help him do his job and survive.
thank you Mr. President and Secretary Rumsfeld. I am very glad that, if my son has to go into harms way, it will be under your command.
US Navy and Marines expand their expeditionary horizons
Mention 'expeditionary' to many people and their vision is of Marines weighed down with equipment, struggling through the surf to face defensive positions. This thinking is out of date, as Scott C Truver explains.
Being there is important. These were the words of General William Whitlow, Director of the US Navy's (USN's) Expeditionary Warfare Directorate (N75), last September.
"As key elements of America's Joint forces, the Navy and Marine Corps Team - the only truly 'expeditionary' forces available to the President - must remain in forward areas, in the littoral, to help shape, respond, and prepare for any eventuality. As the CNO [Chief of Naval Operations] has made clear," Gen Whitlow expanded, "'Virtual Presence' equals 'Absolute Absence'.
"And it's important to remember that 'littoral' does not mean 'brown water'. We conduct 'littoral operations' from the sanctuary of the high seas, well beyond the reach of our adversaries on the shore." In that regard, it is not an overstatement to say that today 'littoral ops' begin when US naval forces are some 600nm away from an objective area.
As Gen Whitlow said: "Tomorrow, with advanced weapon systems, 'littoral ops' will begin more than 1,000 miles from an adversary's coastline. And, because we're expeditionary, we bring with us virtually everything we need to conduct high-tempo, long-endurance operations without the need for access to land-based facilities.
"In the end, however, 'littoral' does mean that eventually we might have to land forces to ensure that vital US interests are protected. In this regard, 'land-attack' means more than just tactical air power and strike weapons; it means putting Marines and sailors ashore to seize important objectives and help to assure access to the region of other land-based US and coalition forces.
"Under our evolving concepts of OMFTS [Operational Maneuver From The Sea] and STOM [Ship-To-Objective-Manoeuvre], we do not look at the beach as an objective per se. Rather, our 'mobility triad' - the LCAC [Landing Craft Air Cushion], 'Triple A-V' [AAAV, Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle], and MV-22 [Osprey Tiltrotor aircraft] - will allow us to use the sea as a manoeuvre area to directly attack far inland. We can avoid the beach altogether if the situation warrants." Much depends on assuring that the required platforms are in place. That will dictate provision of a solid commitment for future resources.
The 12 ships of the San Antonio (LPD-17) Amphibious Transport Dock Ship class will be critical elements in future expeditionary ready groups. As Captain William Luebke, LPD-17 programme manager explained: "They will incorporate advanced performance and warfighting technologies that enhance the fleet's operational flexibility and capability to support emerging concepts like Operational Maneuver from the Sea and Ship-to-Objective Maneuver.
"The LPD-17 programme has been structured to ensure a seamless integration of Navy and Marine Corps assets. With the goal of designing the ship from the keel up for 21st century expeditionary operations, under the rubric of 'Design for Ownership', we have had extensive and intensive interaction with our 'customers' in the operating forces - the Navy and Marine Corps operators who will ultimately have to use what we deliver."
The design calls for a medium-sized ship 684ft in length, a beam of 105ft, and a maximum displacement of 25,000 long tons, manned by a crew approximately 360 strong. Four turbocharged diesels with two shafts and two outboard rotating fixed-pitch propellers will generate a sustained speed of more than 22kt.
Other ship characteristics include 25,000ft2 of space for vehicles, 36,000ft3 for cargo, accommodation for approximately 720 troops (800 surge), and a medical facility (24 beds and four operating rooms - two medical and two dental).
An aft well deck can be ballasted down for the launch and recovery of traditional surface assault craft as well as two LCACs - capable of transporting cargo, personnel, and Marine vehicles and tanks - and the Marine Corps' new AAAV. The LPD-17 aviation facilities include a hangar for a mix of helicopters, MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and a large flight deck capable of supporting all Marine rotary-wing aircraft operations.
Other advanced features include reduced-signature composite-material enclosed masts, other 'stealth' enhancements, state-of-the-art C4ISR and self-defence systems, a Shipboard Wide-Area Network (SWAN) that will link shipboard systems and embarked Marine Corps platforms in a virtual 'information superhighway', and improved habitability.
Construction of LPD-17 is under way with a keel-laying ceremony set for 9 December. Initial delivery is expected in 2003. The ship is being built by the Avondale Alliance - a consortium comprising Avondale Industries, Bath Iron Works, Raytheon, and Intergraph. Although funding constraints and schedules have already changed the lead ship's profile, and may slide the next two ships slightly to the right, delivery is expected to be completed by 2009. Programme officials point out that the delay has allowed them to resolve all issues with the lead ship and then apply the lessons learned to the remainder of the programme. "We have made several important design changes in 'digits', at a relatively small cost, which would have been much more extensive and expensive to accommodate once we started to bend metal," Capt Luebke outlined.
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| The Marines' new Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV) undergoing trials. The LPD-17 design team has linked directly with the AAAV Program Office to ensure compatibility between the two. (Source: GDLS) |
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| US Marines fast rope from a CH-46E to the flight deck of USS Boxer (LHD 4). These ageing aircraft will be replaced by the MV-22 Osprey. (Source: US DoD) |
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| Completing the Navy-USMC's new mobility 'triad' - together with the MV-22 and AAAV - is the LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushion), pictured here loaded with equipment and entering the well deck of the USS Wasp. (Source: US DoD) |
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| The San-Antonio (LPD-17)-class Amphibious Transport Dock Ship programme (cutaway diagram, inset) has been structured to ensure a seamless integration of Navy and Marine Corps assets. (Source: Avondale Alliance) |
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| The San-Antonio (LPD-17)-class Amphibious Transport Dock Ship programme (Source: Avondale Alliance) |
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| The MV-22 Osprey will replace the CH-46 helicopter - offering twice the speed and four times the range of its predecessor. It is pictured here landing on the flight deck of the second Wasp-class LHD, USS Essex. (Source: US DoD) |
thank you... thankyouverymuch... < / elvis voice >
How will this ship protect itself if it is under attack? I see no visible weapons. Composite materials are great for stealth purposes, but will it stop an anti-ship missile?
Bless his heart.
is this considered a semi-stealthy design?
the amphibious transport dock ship Mesa Verde towered above the crowd assembled for its christening and the nearby Aegis destroyer Kidd.
I'd think this ship would protect itself the same way transport ships have always protected themselves, by not getting hit. It's not going to storm the beach unescorted and unprotected. I hope a few Aegis destroyers will be nearby whenever the Mesa Verde is called into action.
It looks like they kept the ceremony politically correct by having a pagan blessing rather than a Christian one. They shouldn't have any objections from the ACLU.
Pino called upon the spirits of the an-cient tribes to bless the ship and its crew.
<< The MV-22 Osprey will replace the CH-46 helicopter .... >>
God forbid!
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