USS America, (PCU) LHA-6, nears completion at Pascagula, Mississippi

WORLD-WIDE AIRRCRAFT CARRIERS ^ | May 23, 2012 | Jeff Head

[Jeff Head]

The USS America, (PCU), LHA-6, the United States Navy's newest Amphibious/Air Assault and Sea Control Carrier nears completion in Mississippi.

USS AMERICA, (PCU) LHA-6

She's 45,000 tons of US Navy fighting machine. Can carry up to two thousand Marines and the vehicles and wepaonry to support them, including transport helos, attack helos, and air support Harriers or later, F-35B Joint Strike Fighters.

She can also be outfitted for pure sea control duties and operate as a modern "Jeep" Carrier, with 24 or so Strike Fighters, and support helicopters.

[Jeff Head]

Thank you for your service! The Peleliu is still serving and plowing the waves. Great vessel...all of the Tarawa class were.

[Jeff Head]

Click on the pic above and you will be taken to a site where several are shown.

Here's one I did by modifying a pic of LHD-8, the USS Makin Ilsand (which is built to the same form except with a well deck) to be the America, also linking to that site:

[Jeff Head]

Thanks! Bravo Zulu.

[Jeff Head]

God bless you bro! for your service to this Republic and for the way you live your life. Always do love your sea stories.

[xrmusn]

The old LST troop and amphib equipment haulers {Tank Landers} did much less than that somewhere like 14 knots and they served us through Nam.
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That 14 knots in the 1156 class T’s was downhill, with following sea in a typhoon....that is if you could keep all ‘4 feet’ on the ground at the same time....

Jeff Head - I believe the UNS is supposed a quip in reference to United Nations Ship ????

Just a guess.... and yes, I am familiar with the USNS meaning etc...stack stripes and all....<: <:

[Jeff Head]

Then “UNS” ain’t gonna happen. Not while I have breath anyway.

Could you imagine that? The UN trying to run our Navy? Waht a pitiful joke that would be.

Don’t get me wrong, I know there are pols and progresives like Obama and others who may want to try to push things that way...but it is just not going to happen IMHO. But IMHO, you’d have massive rebellion in the ranks and COs and Admirals refusing it.

[cva66snipe]

Thank for the report cva66snipe. Confirms what my buddy told me years ago.

A lot of people wouldn't think this would happen but it's true. In rough seas on a carrier you can be forward on the second deck and feel some or even fairly heavy listing port and starboard. But if you went down into number one pumproom on the 6th deck {the most forward space and lowest deck accessible} to work sometimes you had to tie yourself off it would be so intense. My shop had a pump down there for the A/C system.

We took one hard list while I was climbing up number two pump room trunk about 20 frames aft of that which threw me off the ladder. This was a straight vertical ladder not the inclined with steps with rails. I got lucky because the safety nets were there. I fell about a deck. Just hurt my pride LOL.

[xrmusn]

Then “UNS” ain’t gonna happen. Not while I have breath anyway.
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You can ‘damn straight’ include me on THAT ping.

Unless it has been done recently the USMC won’t even work under the ‘General Command of the US Army - - last time I remember hearing of that was when USMC GEN “Howlin` Mad” Smith, relieved a USA General Smith on Saipan.

[cva66snipe]

That 14 knots in the 1156 class T’s was downhill, with following sea in a typhoon....that is if you could keep all ‘4 feet’ on the ground at the same time....

So I was told by someone who knew LOL. My uncle was one of T-Bones last Captains.

[houeto]

I fell about a deck.

Damn! Thank the Lord for safety nets...hehe!

[cva66snipe]

God bless you bro! for your service to this Republic and for the way you live your life. Always do love your sea stories.

It was good too me and for me but all the time I needed LOL. It also about took my life a few times. I was just too dern dumb then too realize it LOL. The simplest of incidents can put a ship in trouble. We had a DFT line rupture {make up water feeding the boilers} in Three Main. It spayed into number 5 switchboard and melted it. We last three mains two boilers and use of some other equipment that fed off it's panels till overhaul. I think that happened toward the last of our 1979 MED Cruise or possibly a short jaunt out afterward before the overhaul.

[cva66snipe]

Corrected: We lost number Three Main’s two boilers and use of some other equipment that fed off it’s electrical panels till overhaul.

[xrmusn]

My uncle was one of T-Bones last Captains.
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Sure you all are aware that they have an Assn and yearly reunions.

I did a couple years , on the 1157 — Terrell County homeported in Yokosuka— before Submarine School.

[cva66snipe]

= Sure you all are aware that they have an Assn and yearly reunions. I did a couple years , on the 1157 — Terrell County homeported in Yokosuka— before Submarine School.

Yea he knew about them but his health got bad and he had also suffered an injury in his civilian job that made travel difficult. He passed on about 5 years ago.

[ops33]

Its a good name.

[tanknetter]

I know that the nuclear carriers, which are listed at 30+ will do over 45 for short periods if necessary...like to avoid a torpedo...or outrun it.

The nuke carriers, with the exception of Enterprise (more on her in a moment) are actually slower than the old conventional carriers of the Forrestal/Kitty Hawk/JFK classes.

Reason is a combination of hull optimization and available shaft horsepower (SHP). Having a nuke plant really doesn't convey any sort of mystical capability on a ship, other than being a way to boil water into high-pressure steam for a couple/few decades at a time. That steam still needs to be channeled into the turbines, which are the limiting factors in a nuke carrier design. And the nukes have pretty much the same SHP rating as the conventional CVs did (Forrestfire had an older plant design, so slightly less SHP than the followon ships did).

So engineering plant capability (as measured in SHP) being equal, top speed was a matter of hull design. The conventional CVs were optimized for a sub-flank (so 25-27 knot) cruise capability to extend their range. This gave them a hull that could allow flank speeds above 31/32 knots ... so long as the captain was willing to burn off all their fuel in relatively short order.

Given the functionally unlimited (25 year cores) fuel supply, the Nimitzes' cruising speed IS their flank speed. So there was no need to optimize the hull for slower but more fuel efficient cruise. This led to a fuller hull form to squeeze in extra fuel, ordinance, etc. But the fuller hull also gives them a slightly slower speed. Apparently (there was an engineering analysis covering all this posted out on the internet years ago) the later Nimitzes (which outweigh their earlier sisters by about 10,000 tons) are barely able to reach 31 knots.

Now, the promised note about Enterprise. She's a one-off prototype/proof-of-concept. One hell of one, given that she's being retired at 50 years after having had an initial design life of 25. She was designed on a modified Kitty Hawk hull extended to squeeze in her 8 reactors (Nimitzes only have two of those) - which was pretty much a direct order from Hyman Rickover who wanted her to have as many reactors as the CVs had boilers (in retrospect, Enterprise only needed six reactors and the other two create steam well in excess of requirements).

So Enterprise got the best of both worlds; a hull form with a slightly better length to width ratio than the Kitty Hawks upon which she was based (and significantly better than the Nimitz design), with an unlimited fuel supply. Even with all that tho, the laws of physics still apply and the most reasonable estimates place her top speed at around 33.5 knots. Which she can run at until either the plant starts breaking down from physical stress, or the cores get depleted.

[SuziQ]

Cool pictures!

[SuziQ]

I’ll have to see how close I can get. I won’t be able to get into the shipyard, but my sister’s house is near the channel across which is one section of the yard, but I don’t know if that is the area in which the ship is being built.

[RandallFlagg]

You wouldn’t happen to know if folks who served on a ship about to be decommissioned would get to be there for the ceremony, would you?

I was on the Peleliu from ‘93-’97.

[RandallFlagg]

Served onboard the USS Peleliu (LHA-5) 1991-1995.

Really? I was a deck ape during that time on her.