Zaptacular Navy: Part 3

 blather, news, science, ships, weapons  4 Responses »
Aug 072012
 

Continuing:

OK, so here are the generators:

The larger generator in back looks like this:

This is a Caterpillar XQ400 genset. XQ400 as in 400 kilowatts of electrical output. That’s enough, at 25% efficiency, to run the proposed operational LaWS anti-aircraft/missile laser.

The smaller generator in front looks like it might be one of these:

… which is a Caterpillar XQ100 genset producing, as may be surmised, 100 kilowatts.

So, there is certainly sufficient electrical power on display just in the larger generator to power the LaWS laser to operational levels, assuming they can actually get 25% efficiency out of it. As for the second, smaller generator? A few theories:

1) It runs what may be a smaller MLD laser

2) It provides makeup power because the LaWS doesn’t actually get 25% efficiency

3) It powers secondary systems like tracking sensors and mechanical actuators

4) It powers the not-insubstantial cooling system needed to safely shed 300 kilowatts of heat.

5) I bet there’s a Caterpillar rental agent with an interesting story to tell.

 Posted by at 3:32 pm

The Zaptacular Navy?

 blather, news, science, ships, weapons  15 Responses »
Aug 042012
 

From HERE a photo of USS Dewey, DDG-105, an Arleigh Burke class destroyer with a  great big interesting thing mounted to it. Also appears to have some substantial generators. Go to the link for higher-rez images.

So what do we have here? Inside the dome there appears to be a sizable telescope. But a telescope itself would not seem to need the sort of electrical power that the Caterpillar generators would provide. There is also what appears to be a sensor system mounted further aft.

 Posted by at 3:41 pm

Titanic II: Made In China

 blather, news, ships  6 Responses »
Apr 302012
 

Back when Cameron’s “Titanic” first came out, I remember seeing at least two plans to build the “Titanic II” (one was a cover image on Popular Mechanics or Popular Science or some such), but obviously they came to naught. Well, now that “Titanic” has been re-released, right on cue we’ve got yet another plan to rebuild the Titanic:

Titanic II to Be Built by Billionaire Palmer in Chinese Yard

Now, on the one hand I’d love to see a Titanic replica, built to resemble the original as much as possible. The thing was just a beautiful piece of work, far classier than modern cruise ships. Of course, built from better materials, with better technology and more lifeboats… modern engines would probably be a good idea as well.

On the other hand: the superstitious are probably going to avoid this ship like the plague. Whether that is going to deter enough people from spending money, I can’t say, especially if it gets a few successful cruises under its belt.

On the gripping hand: it’s to be built in China. Not exactly the mark of manufacturing quality. Its maiden voyage from England to New York is, according to the article, to be “accompanied by the Chinese navy” in 2016. Beyond the disturbing thought of the Chinese navy sailing into New York harbor… the Titanic II will first have to sail from China to Britain. That’s a bit of a schlep.

Will this $500 million ship get built? Can’t say as I think it’s amazingly likely.

 Posted by at 8:06 am

Anybody want a Sea Shadow?

 AARRRGH, awesomeness, blather, Gah., history, I'm from the government, ships  10 Responses »
Apr 202012
 

The government has put the Lockheed Sea Shadow up for sale:

BID DEPOSIT-SEA SHADOW/HMB-1

Current Bid: 10,000 USD (Reserve Not Met)
Bidders: 0
Close Time: 05/04 05:00 PM CT

THE FOLLOWING ITEMS ARE BEING SOLD AS ONE LOT AND ARE NOT TO BE SEPARATED UNTIL AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE GOVERNMENT FACILITY. THE EX-SEA SHADOW (IX-529), YEAR BUILT: 1983, BUILDER: LOCKHEED MARTIN, OVERALL LENGTH: 164 FEET, WATERLINE LENGTH: 118 FEET, EXTREME BEAM 68 FEET, WATERLINE BEAM: 58 FEET, MAXIMUM NAVIGATIONAL DRAFT: 15 FEET, DRAFT LIMIT: 15 FEET, LIGHT DISPLACEMENT: 499 TONS, HULL MATERIAL: STEEL HULL AND SUPERSTRUCTURE, DIESEL ELECTRIC PROPULSION SYSTEM, NUMBER OF PROPELLERS: TWO. (THE EX-SEA SHADOW SHALL BE DISPOSED OF BY COMPLETELY DISMANTLING AND SCRAPPING WITHIN THE U.S.A. DISMANTILING IS DEFINED AS REDUCING THE PROPERTY SUCH AS IT HAS NO VALUE EXCEPT FOR ITS BASIC MATERIAL CONTENT.) THE EX-HUGHES MINING BARGE (HMB-1), COVERED SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE DECK CARGO BARGE/FLOATING DRY-DOCK (WITH DOCKED EX-SEA SHADOW (IX-529) ON BOARD.) HMB-1 – LIGHT DISPLACEMENT: 4,585 TONS, LENGTH OVER ALL): 234 FEET, BREATH: 106.8 FEET, DEPTH: 18.8 FEET, HEIGHT OF WING WALLS ABOVE MAIN DECK: 62 FEET, LENGTH INSIDE WING WALLS: 276 FEET, WIDTH INSIDE WING WALLS: 76.6 FEET, YEAR BUILT: 1972, DRAFT: FORWARD: 8 FEET, AFT: 9 FEET, AIR DRAFT: 97.7 FEET, BUILDER: NATIONAL STEEL SHIP BUILDING COMPANY, SAN DIEGO, CA., CONSTRUCTION: WELDED STEEL, SPOON BOW AND FLAT BOTTOM WITH 18 INCH DEAD RISE, AND RADIUS BILGE PLATING. THESE ITEMS ARE BEING SOLD AS ONE LOT AND WILL NOT BE SEPERATED.

Which of course sounds AWESOME. But they crap all over the awesomeness with this requirement:

THE EX-SEA SHADOW SHALL BE DISPOSED OF BY COMPLETELY DISMANTLING AND SCRAPPING WITHIN THE U.S.A. DISMANTILING IS DEFINED AS REDUCING THE PROPERTY SUCH AS IT HAS NO VALUE EXCEPT FOR ITS BASIC MATERIAL CONTENT.

Gah. Can you imagine what kind of amazing yacht it could’ve made?

So, you’re bidding on scrap metal that *you* have to go to the bother of scrapping. Feh.

 Posted by at 3:00 pm

Now THAT is a keel

 blather, Crazy, projects, ships  11 Responses »
Jan 112012
 

Some time back I picked up a copy of a Boy Scout booklet on making models. It was printed I think sometime in the 1980’s or later, but was originally printed in 1964. Contained within were a number of rather tiny black and white futuristic automobile, ship, aircraft and spacecraft artists concepts. Sadly, there were no notations as to who created the artwork. Several of the pieces I recognize as having been created for Real Projects by Real Companies or Real Government Organizations, so I assume that at least most of the ones I *don’t* recognize were also “real” projects, as opposed to, say, artwork created for Mechanix Illustrated.

That said, a few of the illustrations are odd… and this one is downright goofy. What’s shown is a small boat, looks like a patrol craft of some type, with a keel many times larger than the boat itself. The best I can figure is that either the designers were early adopters of LSD, or the idea was to have a deceptively small and non-scary looking vessel with far more offensive capability than might be suspected.

The keel has a large “box” on the very bottom, probably part of the ballast system. I’d like to think there was a nuclear powerplant in there; otherwise, that itty-bitty boat on the surface will be belching out a hell of a lot more smoke and heat than it should.  About halfway down the keel is the propulsion system, consisting of Voith Schneider propellers… unusual and complex, but capable of considerable maneuverability.

Further down are a number of torpedo tubes, and below them is a set of deployable wings. I suppose the wings would be used to maintain the proper depth; there appear to perhaps be secondary propulsion units on the wings.

I cannot claim with any certainty that this was an American design… but I’d imagine that the Boy Scouts of America would probably make some effort to avoid dirty furrin designs.

Why is the keel is so gigantic? How many bays could it actually sail into, how many docks could it actually sidle up to? The keel is also pretty wide. Would it be wide enough to store Polaris missiles? Was this meant to be a stealthy sea launched ballistic missile system? Hardly stealthier than a submarine, but I can’t otherwise explain the massive size and volume of the keel.

 Posted by at 7:32 pm
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