Littoral Combat Ships

[JRT]

That thing with the spiders sound like something out of Aliens. Perfect for one of SyFy's "monster of the week" movies...

Infestation with spiders the size of golf-balls... There have to be a few practical jokes coming out of that one.

[surfgun]

PCU Fort Worth, made it to Galveston.
Navy.mil - View Image

[blidgepump]

Good lines.....

PCU Fort Worth, made it to Galveston.
Navy.mil - View Image

The 1/4 bow on photograph shows off her nice lines of the hull.

[USSWisconsin]

The 1/4 bow on photograph shows off her nice lines of the hull.

Nice picture! Reminds a little of a high end yacht... She has a price tag like one too.

[JRT]

Nice picture! Reminds a little of a high end yacht... She has a price tag like one too.

Its progenitor was a motor yacht, not a warship.

L-Mart's monohull LCS variant was designed by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A., is built in Fincantieri's Marienette shipyard in Wisconsin, and the design was based on the 60,000 horsepower motor yacht Diestro (depicted below) which was also designed and built by Fincantieri.





(and the progenitor of Austal's trihull LCS variant was also not a warship, but rather was the Benchijigua Express, a high speed ferry currently operating in the Canary Islands, designed and built by Austal)

[surfgun]

Perhaps, the LCS will act as a mother ship to these drones?
Now drones take to the seas as U.S. Navy launches unmanned combat boats firing missiles for first time | Mail Online

[JRT]

More news on USS Freedom:

Click on pic for higher resolution version from Navy website.

121126-N-BC134-004 SAN DIEGO (Nov. 26, 2012) The littoral combat ship USS Freedom (LCS 1) departs San Diego harbor to conduct operations off the coast of Southern California. The littoral combat ship is a fast, agile, networked surface combatant designed to operate in the near-shore environment, while capable of open-ocean tasking, and win against 21st-century coastal threats such as submarines, mines and swarming small craft. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class John Grandin/Released)

U.S. Navy Gives LCS-1 A Makeover
By Michael Fabey
26 December 2012
AWIN First | Aviation Week

As the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) USS Freedom got underway in late November for ship-and-crew-deployment certification trials, it was clear that the LCS program team had made a priority of fixing some major ship issues noted earlier in the year by Aviation Week during an unsanctioned guided tour of the ship while it was in a U.S. Navy dry dock in San Diego.

After first denying the veracity of many of Aviation Week’s observations, Navy officials said they would make repairs for most of the problems a priority. Most of the major issues have been fixed or are scheduled to be addressed.

For example, Aviation Week had noted extensive corrosion throughout many parts of the ship. “LCS-1 was designed and built with an active anti-corrosion system, which was further extended during post-delivery to address additional areas of concern,” the Navy says. “This system is in the baseline for LCS-3 and follow hulls. Minor corrosion was also experienced in limited areas of the ship, which have been addressed through modifications to the paint schedule and material … [which also] are in the baseline for LCS-3 and follow hulls.”

Also, during Post Shakedown Availability 2 (PSA-2), the main machinery room was completely repainted and additional preservation measures were implemented, including painting the piping that had not been previously painted, the Navy says.

Aviation Week also had noted pinprick holes and leak damage in critical piping systems. “The shipbuilder performed non-destructive testing (NDT) as required and utilized acceptance criteria that conformed to Naval Vessel Rules,” the Navy says.

Marinette Marine, LCS-1 prime contractor Lockheed Martin’s shipyard partner, relies upon a vendor to conduct radiographic testing (RT), the Navy says, adding that the vendor’s procedure for RT on LCS-1 was reviewed and approved by the American Bureau of Shipping. The vendor performed RT of all of the water mist weld joints in January 2007, with the results and films reviewed by ABS.

The Navy says it has “since found that the manner in which the [RT] was accomplished during construction did not highlight the defects.” As a result, the Navy says, “weld procedures and NDT procedures have been changed on LCS-3 and follow [ships], including increased Navy quality assurance.”

The gas-turbine engine intakes were redesigned and “improved mating seals” were installed on the ship, as well as later Freedom-class models, to prevent the cascade of issues that caused the starboard engine to fail through corrosion-induced metal fatigue.

Freedom program officials also redesigned the Isotta Fraschini ship’s service diesel engines (SSDGs) to address “performance issues” documented during Freedom’s early deployment. An Aviation Week review of casualty reports and engineering logs reveal reliability and related issues with those engines through the beginning of this decade.

The Navy modified the Freedom’s RIX air compressors to make them more reliable, and the ship’s compressors are being evaluated for replacement with new Sauer air compressors that were included in redesigns for follow-on LCS-1 class vessels.

Ship sources say compressor reliability remains an issue. Initial LCS requirements called for the ship’s compressors to run 50% of the time, but they are running closer to 90% to compensate for the large-scale leaking of pipes and welds, according to a source intimately familiar with Freedom’s operations. The Navy says the new compressors are similar to the systems employed on LPD-17 ships.

The source says, “Experience operating the Sauer air-cooled compressors indicates they overheat in hot climates — will shut down due to their location in the Freedom-class main machinery space, which is not air-conditioned.” The system, the source notes, has not yet been tested while deployed to warm-weather climates.

In response, the Navy says, “The Sauer system meets all operational and maintenance requirements.”

The Navy also redesigned the reduction gear oil sump covers to stop oil from running down the exterior casing and into the bilge.

“The initial gear design did not have securing mechanisms for the covers to protect the gears from intrusion,” the Navy says. “The original covers were modified to allow them to be locked. This impacted the sealing of the covers. The covers were subsequently redesigned. The redesigned covers are installed on LCS-1, LCS-3 and incorporated into the LCS-5 and follow baseline.”

The Navy has corrected deficient pipe hangars aboard the Freedom and modified LCS-3 drawings and updated that ship’s construction to “include details and guidance for installation on future hulls.”

Program officials have repaired Freedom’s fin stabilizers, which “show poor reliability. This system is currently under evaluation and may not be required to meet performance requirements.”

The Navy now asks dockmasters to move their Yokohama pier fenders for the SSDG engine exhaust “away from exhaust ports, which has mitigated the hazard to wooden piers.”

The exhaust, the source familiar with Freedom’s operations says, has lit wooden piers and other structures on fire.

.

[surfgun]

At least LCS 1 will look tough (in dazzle camo).
Navy's Freedom gets camo paint job | UTSanDiego.com

despite:One recent Navy acknowledgment is that while LCS vessels are only rated for Combat 1+ levels—lower than a tanker—they will, not surprisingly, face greater dangers due to their coastal mission. Congress may wonder if the Navy will have to rewrite its doctrine for all Level 1 combat ships or just tailor certain procedures for LCS.

[JRT]

I just received an email informing me that National Geographic television will be airing a documentary about the LCS class (Freedom-variant and Independence-variant, both) tonight at 7:00 PM.

Inside: 21st Century Warship | National Geographic Channel

[surfgun]

Freedom to deploy with only one aircraft. Freedom is capable of carrying two MH-60R's.

Posted February 5, 2013, 12:23 PM
Freedom to Carry One Helo on Westpac Deployment

By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor

ARLINGTON, Va. - The first Littoral Combat Ship, USS Freedom (LCS 1), will be armed with one MH-60R Seahawk helicopter for the ship’s first deployment next month to the Western Pacific.

“The ‘Battle Cats’ of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 73 will support LCS 1‘s deployment with a single MH-60R helicopter and two combat aircrews,” said Lt. Richard S. Chernitzer, a spokesman for the commander of Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, in San Diego.

In addition to an MH-60R or MH-60S helicopter, the ship is capable of carrying three MQ-8B Fire Scout vertical-takeoff unmanned aerial vehicles (VTUAVs), but will not be carrying the VTUAVs on this deployment. Freedom will deploy with a surface warfare mission package.

Freedom will be forward deployed to Singapore and operate under the commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet.

[Gun Grape]

LCS-1 in her new paint job

[surfgun]

On her journey to the South Pacific, may she not end up like USS Guardian.
It looks like she still is sporting the 30mm gun mission modules.

[Minskaya]

Despite the sequester cutbacks, the USS Freedom (LCS-1 / Lockheed-Martin) left San Diego port yesterday for an eight month deployment. The ship is scheduled to visit Hawaii and Guam, then head to Singapore and Southeast Asia where it will conduct maritime security operations. Freedom will be initially manned by a crew of 91 sailors, including an aviation detachment to operate an embarked MH-60 helicopter, but the crew will be swapped out halfway through the deployment.

Quite a nifty paint job...

[SlaterDoc]

One of the things that has always amazed me is how caught up the strategists and designers get with always going advanced and modern! They forget that many times our "modern" Navy is facing a not quite so advanced foe! The dazzle paint schemes of WW2 had a purpose that is still applicable today despite the advancements of radar and etc. After all, an east African pirate that is standing up in his skiff and peering through his binoculars will look at one of these vessels and wonder "what the heck"! It wasn't an advanced and modernly equipped enemy that was able to get right up next to the USS Cole and almost sink her! Dang, the enemy our forces are currently battling are attacking on horseback!

[DonBelt]

Just let the diesels go into regen- any small boats alongside should melt nicely!