The top article in #48 has
Cmdr. Randy Garner, the ship’s Gold Crew skipper and the man in charge for Freedom’s trial deployment to 4th Fleet, said the “tanks” ride above the waterline and would only come into play “to give the ship additional buoyancy, if, for some reason, we were lower in the water.” Which is to say, if the Freedom took damage in combat and started to sink, Navy engineers think its water wings would help the ship stay afloat, or at least delay its sinking until everyone could get off.If you had combat damage that compromised the water-tightness of the transom, and the ship started to sink, having the mission bay fill with water would be very unhappy-making.
It better be a good door, and not a design copied from North Sea car ferries of a few years ago.
I have some old knowledge of recovering RIBs and other inflatables up ramps. It really is about ideal. The trimaran requires positioning under a crane system, then being yanked up by some wires. While this is far better than a single-point crane or even side davits, it still leaves a lot to be desired.
But I’d love to T&E it. Oh, yes I would. I envy the SEALs adn SWCCs who are assigned to play cowboy on that T&E, working all of the bugs out! I imagine dropping from the wires while underway is a blast.
But all four lift points better release at exactly the same time. Imagne if an aft wire “hangs up” for a few seconds after the other three lift points have let go. Underway.
That would get sporty. Still love to try it.