USS Freedom at sea

Beautiful boat ain't she? I hope to get to see how beautiful the Independence looks when she is at sea as well.

WOW

I only saw artist renditions of what she would look like when completed

She does have some nice lines.
I wonder what her electronic counter measures are? top speed and such etc.

Thanks from beutifull pics!

- What is the main armament?
- What is her task?

How many of her is all ready made, and will be produced?

Thanks!

Looks like she is designed to be somewhat stealth. Beautiful ship.

USS freedom sounds ominous like USS Liberty

I'm waiting for the USS Justice and the USS Wupass

DDG 1000 Zumwalt destroyer

$11 billion on research and development over 1o years.
$10 billion to build 2 ships out of the original order of 32.

Total cost?

$21 billion for 2 fat Arleigh Burkes. I guess we cant think of anything else to spend our money on?


[edit on 30-7-2008 by METACOMET]

Lol Slayer! You slay me! Or the USS Impeachment or USS get these bums out of Congress.

What a bunch of dummies..both the Navy and the Commercial sector.

I read some of the articles and see what a cluster ....you know what it is in this constructiion of this ship.

There is a learning curve to be absorbed by any company in the construction of any vessel until all trades become familiar with the proceedures and techniques to be overcome in any construction.
You also do not constantly change designs while under construction...or design as you construct. This causes huge problems and delays. Certain sections of a vessel must be completed before you construct other compartments over these areas. THe very heavy equipment and machinery is often mounted into a compartment and then the compartment built around it. Then other compartments built over and around that one. YOu dont build all these compartments and then change the design to a new one...that involves huge costs and delays.

This other company..down in Alabama...Austal...they are known for building aluminum ferry boats. They are also known for having welding problems in thier hulls. The ferrys sent to Hawaii...developed cracks in the hull and had to be drydocked while fixing these problems.
This same company Austal..is building an aluminum hulled landing ship for the Navy/Marines. I hope they dont use the same welders on this Navy/Marine ship.

Also ..anyone versed in the trade knows...commercial standards in construction are mostly unsuitable for military vessels. Welding requirements for military vessels are much higher and more stringent than are commercial ships. I have been on commercial ships and looked at the structural welds in the bilges and along the vertical ribs going up the hulls. Some of these commercial ships I have seen do not even have full beads of weld going up the rib structures. At first I was astonished at this. I have seen a rib...T-bar...welded for some 12 inchs, then a hole cut out....then another 12 inchs of weld on both sides of this rib...another hole cut out...followed by another 12 inchs of weld ..both sides.
This type of commerical construction will never do for a military ship.

An Aircraft carrier is built with a very heavy thick T-bar as a rib..100 per cent weld up both sides and a heavy duty weld at that . Double hull construction in critical machinery spaces. No scrimping here...commercial standards will not do.
Alot of your bolts and other fasteners are not the stuff you get commercially at Home Depot, Lowes, or Auto Zone. These are specially acquired....and simply will not do with commercial stuff.

I swear....some of these designers, engineers, and shipyard presidents need to ride some of their ships out into a hell of a sh-t storm to see if their product will hold up...with these commercial standard they are trying to pawn off on the Navy and the public. Put their own behinds on the line and see if they are real "Believers."

It is one thing to sit behind a computer screen ..and take a guess based on statistics and probabilitys ...its is another thing entirely to stare into the fury of mother nature ...and then look at your on line screen data...hope and pray it is correct.

These ships look to me like in the first big rough storm they go through ...these ships will fail..be bent or break up....if they are using commercial standards....especially aluminum. I hope for the sake of he sailors serving on them that I am incorrect.

Orangetom

The destroyers were built at both General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Maine and at the Northrop Grumman Ingalls Shipyard in Mississippi. Hardly civilian operations. These guys build warships.

The Navy's target per-ship cost of $750,000,000 by the fifth ship constructed in each construction yard failed horribly. The cost skyrocketed to $5,000,000,000 each. Thats why they only built 2.

Excuse the ignorance of naval protocal, but where are the U.S. colors?

Looks like two Scottish Flags that are waving. Not that I have a problem with that

Some ships are sexier than others it would seem.

The USS Moneypit and the USS Wespentwhat are two of the latest hightech vessels afloat!

Deal with it!

Originally posted by METACOMET
The destroyers were built at both General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Maine and at the Northrop Grumman Ingalls Shipyard in Mississippi. Hardly civilian operations. These guys build warships.

The Navy's target per-ship cost of $750,000,000 by the fifth ship constructed in each construction yard failed horribly. The cost skyrocketed to $5,000,000,000 each. Thats why they only built 2.

METACOMET,

Yes I am aware of the ships they are building at Bath Iron and also in Pascogula, Mississippi.
I've had a chance to go aboard the USS Gettysburg. What an eye opener.
Up until then I had no idea how thin skinned these ships are in order to get the speed up. Wow!!

However...this ship..the USS Freedom...I am asking myself exactly what role they will fulfill next to the FFG type ships currently in service. I get the impression that the first two are sort of test beds for the next crop of ships to come.

This ship was built at a yard up on the great lakes in Wisconson. Here is a link.

www.lmlcsteam.com...

A look at the list of vendors ...or subcontractor for sub assemblys..includes Fairbanks Morse Engine. Click on the heading under "The Team." I have seen a very unusual Fairbanks Morse diesel engine.

Nonetheless...the Navy and shipyards are looking for ways to cut costs on future ships. This search continues. I hope they do not go to overboard with this as I know that commercial standards are very different from military combat standards for equipment. I did not fully realize this until I began to take stock when working on ocean liners, commercial freighters, and tankers. Structural requirements are very different for many of these ships. It is the same with protective coatings..commercial lines dont want to heavy a layer of coatings/paint if it will cost them in cargo handlinig abilitys. They can be quite anal about this requirement.
Many lines or carriers will keep a new ship only so long..enough to make certain profit and then sell them.

Working at this location I have seen a number of different types of ships come in and with experience you notice a number of differences in how they are designed/built/constructed.

www.nn.northropgrumman.com...

Also ...these new ships of the Freedom class have aluminum superstructures. Makes me wonder how much they really learned out of the Falklands Islands War in the early 1980s.
The overall skin thickness on FFG type destroyers is not thick at all. I was surprised to see this with my own eyes. I dont believe it is any thicker on these ships in order to get the speed up when needed. Hope thier countermeasures and defenses are good. Also that they are smart enough to have vital systems turned on ...unlike the USS Stark.

Thanks,
Orangetom

Orange Tom is correct about this ship being built in Wisconsin; it is undergoing testing right now in Lake Michigan, so, technically, it's not "at Sea".

Looking at numbers like that makes me think that a LOT of the money went into black projects. Come on folks, it doesn't cost 20 billion dollars for TWO destroyers.

reply to post by orangetom1999


USS Belknap

USS Belknap after a collision with the USS John F Kenedy

also the fire onboard HMS Amazon in 1977

The UK knew about the type 21 issues , but had to send them south anyway - but the type 42 was just as vulnerable to fire - and lessons hard learnt in total ship designed , from containment of smoke , to extensive fire fighting training for everyone and better equipment is the way to go - although i wouldn`t want to bet real £££ about these new `wonder` ships ability to deal with a run of the mill galley fire.

Harlequin,

Years ago in this yard I saw the USS Belknap in this yard for quick repairs of about 5 days and then she was out again. It was a couple of days before the name rang a bell with me as to exactly what the history of the ship was and its association with the name.

That, Harlequin was a horrible ...horrible ...horrible accident. If I recall the events correctly they were along side of the carrier taking on fuel and did an emergency breakaway..a standard emergency maneuver. Either the carrier USS John F, Kennedy or the Belknap made a wrong turn and the aircraft elevator sheered off the upper decks of the Belknap.

When I saw her...like the USS Cole ..the Bellknap had been repaired and was back in service.
Nonetheless...these accidents do happen as is the nature of the tasks to which our Navys are assigned. It is always tragic when it occurs.

The US Navy has a big firefighting school over across the bay in Norfolk., Virginia and all sailors must attend. There are other firefighting schools in the US Navy around the country but all are required for every sailor no matter what their normal occupations. This is a result of the tragedy on the USS Forestall...another very hard learned lesson.

Thanks,
Orangetom

[edit on 31-7-2008 by orangetom1999]

why do i have a real gut feeling of deja vu when i see these new ships - lessons hard and fataly learnt are being consigned to history (

Interesting stuff.

I'm wondering why the mid-ships superstructure goes flush with the hull?
A low radar cross-section to improve stealth?

Looks like you'd have to enter through a door at the front if you were going bow to stern instead of walking down the side.

Wouldn't that compromise safety in a storm?
For the ship as well as for the sailor.

What are the big double doors at the back for?

Am I understanding correctly that this is a destroyer?

I see a lot of confusion in this thread. The original poster has posted photos of USS Freedom, LCS-1 as she undergoes builder's trials on Lake Michigan. It's one of two competing designs (The other being the LCS-2 Independence) for the Littoral Combat Ship, a small, fast, lightweight vessel for in-shore combat and landing support.

The destroyers being mentioned as canceled at just 2, or $5 Billion each, or $20 billion for two are the DDG-1000 Zumwalt class destroyers. Those have not been built to date, so you won't find pictures of them "at sea." There's some debate between what the real pricetag for those ships will be, but they're not particularly similar to the LCS in any meaningful way. The DDG-1000's are built to be the ultimate destroyer (in fact, they're the size of a cruiser); the LCS is intended to be small, fast, and order in much larger quantity.