Colossal Stealth Destroyer USS Zumwalt Ready to Set Sail and Join the Navy

Associated Press ^ | Sep 7, 2016

[PAR35]

The Zumwalt is, in fact, basically a pocket battleship.

I was thinking more a battle cruiser, given the lack of armor.

[reed13k]

only a single helo ?

[pepsi_junkie]

oops. you are right, Spruance it was. In fact it's interesting (to me) to note that for the Ticonderoga they adapted an existing hull with a new weapon system (AEGIS). Then for the Arleigh Burke class they created a new hull and made adaptations to the existing weapon system. This was a good approach to limit the risk, indicative of the so-called "build a little, test a little" approach of not doing too much all at once but always build on previous success in a systematic manner.

This new destroyer is the first time in 30 years that we've seen a new hull with a new weapon system. Will watch with interest to see if that works out as hoped.

[Rannug]

What’s wrong with the Dakotas?

[ClearCase_guy]

Well, once you’ve seen Mt Rushmore, there’s not much more to see.

[/rimshot]

[FredZarguna]

The Jolly Green Giant’s favorite centerfold.

Batman, Robin, and Alfred's, too:

[Cuttnhorse]

No kidding! Not my idea of a ‘Tin Can’ by any stretch.
QM2, USS Ault DD698

[Cuttnhorse]

The Ault:

[TalonDJ]

No kidding? Interesting. Did not know that.

[TalonDJ]

““Heavily armed non-aviation surface combatant of variable tonnage.””

Except those Japanese ones for which the ‘non-aviation’ does not apply.

[Captain Rhino]

You refer to the destroyers that merely look like aircraft carriers?

Come to think of it, the Soviet era Kiev class were officially designated as “heavy aviation cruisers”

This aviation cruiser designation was adopted by the Soviets to apply to several classes of their aircraft carrying ships (Moskova, Kiev, and Kuztnetov) so they could legally transit through the Bosphorus Strait to access the Black Sea under the 1936 Montreux Convention.

The Montreux Convention’s rules are slanted to favor nations that border the Black Sea. So while the Russians to sail very large “aircraft cruisers” through the Straits into the Black Sea, non-bordering states like, for example, the United States, cannot:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreux_Convention_Regarding_the_Regime_of_the_Straits#Terms_and_consequences_of_the_Convention

However, there are maritime navigation issues that probably preclude taking such large warships through the Strait’s confined and dangerous waters:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosphorus#Maritime

[JoeFromSidney]

Thank you. It was 68 years ago, and I long since lost my pictures of the ship. She didn't have the anti-submarine "dazzle" on her then, but she still showed some WW II battle damage, patched and painted over.

[Oztrich Boy]

function is land bombardment