USS America heads to sea

The USS America LHA-6 entered the Gulf of Mexico for five days of builders trials November 5th. The ship was operated by a mixed crew of Huntington Ingalls employees and members of the Navy. During the five days, 200 test points were achieved, with the ship performing up to expectations.

The America and Tripoli are the first ships to be built without an internal well deck for launching landing craft. They are meant to assist Marine air operations. She uses a gas turbine engine and same electrical system as the USS Makin Island. She's 844 feet long, with a 45,000 long ton displacement, with a crew of 1,059 and can carry 1,687 troops.

Built by Huntington Ingalls Industries at their Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., the AMERICA was put through more than 200 test events. Engineers checked the operation of the gas turbine/electric-powered propulsion system, along with anchor handling, flight operations, and combat systems’ evaluations. The ship was operated by Ingalls employees assisted by members of the ship’s Navy crew.

“The Ingalls team and the ship performed very well,” said Richard Schenk, Ingalls’ vice president of test and trials.

Navy observers were also pleased with the trials.

“The ship performed well at sea and largely exceeded my expectations. The state of completion is right where it should be for builder’s trials,” said Capt. Chris Mercer, Amphibious Warfare program manager for the Program Executive Office, Ships. “Our joint government and industry team comprehensively tested every aspect of the ship’s equipment and systems, and the results leave us with a clear path to a successful acceptance trials and delivery next year.”

USS America

Hey, nice boat!

I remember working with and around her predecessor Uss America (CV-66). (Now an artificial reef off Cape Hatteras)
This new America is about half the size of the carrier.

Big boondockers to fill, but I am sure the officers and crew will uphold the proud name!

reply to post by Zaphod58


Nice! S&F for the info.

Which reminds me...

I once had (around 2008) a vision about a strange vehicle carrying political figures to safety in the southern Pacific ocean. In my vision I saw that the submarine-like vehicle was not rigid, but instead was composed of a metallic skeleton-like structure, around which a flexible fabric was stretched. I am just wondering if, by any chance, you ever stumbled upon such a vehicle during your searches?

Thanks

reply to post by Montana


america cv 66 was 990 feet long on the hull, 1,048 feet on the flight deck. this new gator freighter is almost as big as her. she is a beautiful ship and her crew should be proud to be on her.

swanne
reply to post by Zaphod58

 

Nice! S&F for the info.

Which reminds me...

I once had (around 2008) a vision about a strange vehicle carrying political figures to safety in the southern Pacific ocean. In my vision I saw that the submarine-like vehicle was not rigid, but instead was composed of a metallic skeleton-like structure, around which a flexible fabric was stretched. I am just wondering if, by any chance, you ever stumbled upon such a vehicle during your searches?

Thanks

edit on 15-11-2013 by swanne because: (no reason given)

Possibly thinking of this...

U-1105

reply to post by Vasa Croe


Wow, the color is a perfect match with what I saw! But what I saw was slightly bulkier, though, less profiled. A bit more like this shape:



But with the color and flexible texture in your link.

Thanks for the link!!

reply to post by blackthorne


some more detailed info.

en.wikipedia.org...

General characteristics
Class & type: Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier
Displacement: 61,174 long tons (62,156 t) (light), 83,573 long tons (84,914 t) (full load), 22,399 long tons (22,758 t) (dead)
Length: 990 ft (300 m) (waterline), 1,048 ft (319 m) overall
Beam: 248 ft (76 m) extreme, 129 ft (39 m) waterline
Draft: 38 ft (12 m) (maximum), 37 ft (11 m) (limit)
Installed power: 280,000 hp (210 MW)
Propulsion: 4 × steam turbines
8 × boilers
4 × shafts
Speed: 34 kn (39 mph; 63 km/h)
Complement: 502 officers, 4684 men
Sensors and
processing systems: AN/SPS-49
AN/SPS-48
Electronic warfare
& decoys: AN/SLQ-32
Armament: Terrier missile (replaced with Sea Sparrow)
Phalanx CIWS
Aircraft carried: about 79

Buzz kill , i know , but is there really any need for this ship ?

Now that David Cameron and co. have sold off the British Navy and Air Force , is there really any need for the US to build anything else ? you have the biggest Navy on the planet , not the best , but certainly the biggest .

reply to post by EnemyOfTheSane


The America class will replace current ships. Just as the Ford will start replacing Nimitz class ships.

linkreply to post by blackthorne


You are correct she is larger than half the length. Here is a picture that would give a very good indication of what the two would look like steaming together. (Without the angled deck on the Essex)

reply to post by grey580


These are stats from the old aircraft carrier, the one that was sunk, not the new LHA.

EnemyOfTheSane
Buzz kill , i know , but is there really any need for this ship ?

Now that David Cameron and co. have sold off the British Navy and Air Force , is there really any need for the US to build anything else ? you have the biggest Navy on the planet , not the best , but certainly the biggest .

As long as the rest of the world expects the US to police the world's oceans and make sure oil gets sent to Japan, China, and Europe, then yes, there is a need for ships like these. A frigate or two from a 20-ship Navy just doesn't cut it.

And the US has nowhere the biggest Navy on the planet. In terms of ship strength the US now has 290. Countries with a "bigger" Navy include China (972), North Korea (708), Thailand (596), and Iran (408). Of course, perhaps "ships" propelled by outboard motors shouldn't count, but in terms of raw numbers the US is way down there, and also way down the ideal 600 ship Navy. The UK comes in 27th with 77 ships. Source is here. In terms of tonnage I suspect the US is first, but I haven't done the work to figure it out. Perhaps Janes would have that readily available, but a single yearbook costs over $1000.

If there is a "better" Navy in the world, I'd sure like to know which one it is, backed up with appropriate statistics proving the point, of course.

reply to post by schuyler


The rest of the world is a rather large statement , i personally couldn`t give a monkey`s who moves what ...... my concern is the size of the US Navy + military ... it`s big enough to dominate earth and is doing so on a lot of fronts , including financially . A problem that the collective strengths of billions will eventually have to stamp out in order for the progression of man-kind. Big armies never win , you should be very concerned .

Oh , and The Royal Navy ..... history should steer you in the right direction.

reply to post by schuyler


That's why I posted the info.
To know the difference between old and new.

It’s show the efficiency of American army. When are talking about the technology and weapon then we realized that American army is in high level. Thanks for sharing this great information.

AustinClarke
It’s show the efficiency of American army. When are talking about the technology and weapon then we realized that American army is in high level. Thanks for sharing this great information.

Correct. It's not 1913 any more.

Measuring the power of a navy by the numbers or the tonnage is like measuring the power of an airforce by the square footage of the hangars and the barracks.

Today, all the power of a navy is in the flying parts and the swimming parts---and the thinking parts which control them.

Surface ships are infrastructure, and vulnerable infrastructure at that.

reply to post by mbkennel

I spent 3 1/2 years on the last USS America CV-66. Maintained the NTDS system. It's not a single carrier against the world. They don't go out to sea alone.
Consider this we have the freedom to move on the ocean without foreign entanglements like getting permission to build an air force base next to a problem area.