..Remember the Maine!
Posted on 10/18/2013 6:07:36 AM PDT by artichokegrower
You're right. For comparison everyone, consider:
The WWII era Fletcher class destroyer was a light, fast 2500 ton or so. The modern flight III Arleigh Burke DDGs are (IMHO) a bit big for a destroyer designation at 9800 tons. (light cruiser anyone?) That's about the same as the Ticonderoga class CGs. Admittedly the Ticonderoga class CGs are just a bulked-up Spruance class DDs which were 8000 ton or so. The old Virgina class CGN - nuclear powered guided missile cruisers - were 11,600 ton.
So yeah, the Zumwalt DDGs at 14,500 are seriously stretching the notion of what a destroyer is. If you're going to call the Ticonderoga and Virgina cruisers then based on size, capability, and planned numbers you really should call the Zumwalt a cruiser or even a heavy cruiser. (ie a CG not DDG)
“Merrimac, is that you?”
The Zumwalts really should have rec’d the CG (or even CA) designation. The Ticonderogas aren’t really cruisers, being built on Sprucan destroyer hulls, and when they’re gone the Cruiser designation will pass out of use in the USN.
And yes, I know that the intent was to build a Ticonderoga replacement CG using a modified Zumwalt hull. But that was dropped over 10 years ago ... so I guess we’ll see a LOT more O6’s driving Destroyers rather than O5’s.
Are those little tents on deck going to house the MB Observers sent by the WH to make sure no muzzies are offended by the ship?
For 3.3 Billion they could have got 1 and 1/2 B 2 stealth bombers.
And recall that the Virginia CGNs weren’t really cruisers either. They had their origins in the Leahy-class “Destroyer Leaders” DLG. Also called Frigates.
With the WWII cruisers leaving service in the early 1970s, the need to preserve O6 sea command billets and the desire to bring the Frigate designation in line with our NATO allies use of it, the DLG/DLGNs were rebranded as Cruisers while the Destroyer Escorts became Frigates.
OOPS! Somebody built the hull upside down!.....................
‘Ship Porn’ has been around for ............centuries...................
For decades, the Navy has been getting around the budget planners by calling cruisers, "destroyers". A typical WW2 destroyer like the USS Doyle was 348 feet long and weighed 1,630 tones. Then again, WW2 capital ships had bigger crews (Chicago had 1,142 officers and enlisted). The Zumwalt has fewer crew than the USS Doyle (Zumwalt 142, Doyle 272), so by that standard of measurement Zumwalt is more like a WW2 frigate.
Isaiah 31:1
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.
What good is the hardware when the CIC is jackass?
No anchors or bridge windows visible. Interesting.
OOPS!
Think of it in these terms: its cost is less than a few days of government graft, vote buying, parasite-payoffs, and free stuff from .gov
They likely had training in that skill, if not experience enough to be proficient.
Admiral Zumwalt was somewhere high up in the chain of command when I was serving, half a hundred years ago.
We're kinda hoping that will change in a few years.
Lighting up a cold boiler on N6 bunker...
Now, that took some technique !
installed on a warship which is tied into an array of weapon systems including (but not limited to) twenty MK 57 vertical launch modules and a pair of 155 mm guns.
These guns have water-cooled barrels capable of hitting targets up to 83 nautical miles away at 10 rounds per minute
But it has guns
Covered for painting and to keep anyone from seeing what’s inside while it’s being built.
I worked at Ingalls shipyard building Spruance class destroyers. There are parts of that ship you will need a security clearance to get into even before there is anything but bare bulkheads in it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.