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| 110607-N-DB113-082 PACIFIC OCEAN (June 7, 2011) An MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 77 prepares to land aboard the littoral combat ship USS Freedom (LCS 1). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication 2nd Class Aaron Burden/Released) |
Ignore the helicopter and blow the pic up and take a good look at this ship. It just entered service and its looking tired and worn out. I know visuals mean nothing but I wonder. Has limited manning finally caught up with ship upkeep? Is operating skeleton ships crews actually the way we want to go if we desire to keep these ships in service for 20 plus years?
I can't say because I don't have the facts or the skill sets to know for sure. What I do know is that the USS Freedom is looking tired...very tired.
This is general wear and tear at sea, the influence of the sandpaper-like weather and environment. Also, both LCS types haven't been treated yet with the proper corrosion-resistant (and RAM treated) paints - iirc.
ReplyDeletei've seen general wear and tear at sea....but to say that corrosion resistance hasn't been applied is a co-op to me. take alook at other ships of the same age and you don't see this.
ReplyDeletei'm of the opinion that normal ship upkeep isn't possible because of the reduced manning. until someone hits me with facts to the contrary then the US Navy needs to consider this as part of its ships plan.
what do you normally see on Navy ships that you don't see in the advertising? Sailors painting and scrapping their asses off....this ship looks like shit.
ahh remember the hulls are different materials. One does NOT chip and scrape AL. Also go look at USCG 47 ft MLBs which are AL and have little by way of topside coatings.
ReplyDeleteMSC's solution to topside maintenance is to use expensive epoxy coatings which don't allow corrosion (as much) and are cleaned by pressure washing.
That having been said, the whole logistic support plan for LCS has been questionable from the start
al means aluminum right? if thats the case then i have a major issue with these ships survivability material wise.
ReplyDeleteand if aluminum is actually a decent material to use on ships then i would highly recommend that the big navy get on the MSC solution asap.
this ship looks like a floating piece of shit.
well combined with the fact that it has very little combat power and is not survivable in a high threat environmnet i think the program itself is a POS, lets keep building burkes and virginias and lets arm some of the JHSV which are a fraction of the cost but can do the same thing.
ReplyDelete@Soloman: AL is the symbol for Aluminum on the Periodic Table.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know these ships were made of Aluminum. I thought it was composites. Is the Independence class also made of it? If its Aluminum then I think these ships could be a disaster waiting to happen like the RN Amazon class.
Low crew complements could work if they had dedicated shore crews like the Russians did with their submarines. But for it to work with a forward deployed asset like the LCS we need some kind of tender vessel or a friendly port.
yeah if its aluminum then you could pop these things with well aimed 50 cal fire....i don't know but i'm beginning to wonder if this is really the right way to go...
ReplyDeleteWell if its a small ship its unlikely to survive a ASM hit, but if its intended to operate close to shore its likely to be fired at by smaller weapons from C-701s or shore based guns or rockets that would not sink a warship but could cause propellent fires that could really do some damage like what happened to HMS Amazon, USS Belknap and USS Worden.
ReplyDeleteagreed. hey, i wanted to link to one of your stories...is that ok???
ReplyDeleteOh yea that's fine with me. Its always good to have some extra traffic for our little blog.
ReplyDelete@TLAM there are few ships of comparable size which will survive an ASM hit. But I do agree with you that an LCS operating as a picket in dangerous green waters are very susceptible to conventional (read: cheap) weapons hits that will at least take them out of that action.
ReplyDeleteBTW the fuel tanks in this ship are in the hull down near the waterline UNLIKE the USN warships you mentioned.
FYI the LCS-1 class has a steel hull and AL superstructure while the LCS-2 class are all AL.
Pls do google the USCG MLB to see how AL weathers and is painted.
I think the LCS is fatally flawed as a concept, but smaller crew sizes is something the Navy is going to have to figure out. Good people keep getting more expensive and harder to find, retaining quality people is even more so, especially if the economy ever comes back. I'm not saying the LCS has its crew size right, I don't know, but it's a direction the Navy has to go in and at some point you have to put things at sea and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteRef aluminum, there's nothing inherently wrong with it. Aluminum M113s are not any more vulnerable than comparable steel APCs. The big thing with Aluminum is its lower melt point but by the time that becomes an issue you're in deep, deep trouble anyway. For rebuilding a ship after it's burned it's a big deal, but for combat damage control I'm not sure it matters.
Ref the ships appearance, to the extent that not looking "pretty" is an indicator of sloppy or hurried maintenance in general, you're certainly correct: it's worrisome. But being "pretty" per se doesn't add combat value. People at Army bases used to paint rocks: it looked great and it was just a huge waste of time that could have been spent on maintenance or training.
ummmm....i'm in general agreement with your statement but if you're talking about a base in comparison to a ship, it isn't painting rocks thats the comparison...its more akin to going up to headquarters building and seeing that the grass needs cutting, the hedges are out of control and theres trash on the lawn.
ReplyDeletethe Freedom (repeating myself) simply looks like shit. i feel for the Sailors that have to pull into port on that dung heap. is it combat effective? i don't know but maintenance is an indication of a good crew right?