Screen Shot of the Technological Advances installed aboard CVN-78

In a forum a retired USN Captain (verified) made this comment on the apparent condition of the Hull of CVN-78:

Most of the corrosion that hull will ever see is right before your eyes. Once all of the welds and other annealing processes are complete, the hull will be "bead blasted 'white'," and then the coats of red lead primer and haze gray will be applied. Partly this is because of the great cost incurred in dealing with pollution laws these days. Repainting piecemeal over new welds repeatedly will affect the bottom line. So, they sort of do it in one fell swoop, and incur those costs only once.

..and that's that.. 

You Have Come a Long Way, Navy

USS-Pennswylvania

Today is Flag Day.

The American Flag we honor today has not changed very much during the last 100 years.

The only changes that have been made to our flag have been ones needed to accommodate additional stars as our Union grew to the 50 states that today make up the United States of America.

Nothing has changed, however, in the ideals and values represented by our flag.

One of those ideals is “Liberty” — preserving freedom and national security.

To be able to do so during the past one hundred years, our military capabilities had to drastically change in order to keep up with those who might be a threat to us.

It would be difficult to describe in a short piece such as this one how our defense technologies and capabilities not only have kept pace with any threat but how we hopefully have achieved superiority over those who might do us harm.

I recently came across some photographs that, I believe, depict our tremendous advancements in this area in a short 101 years — better than a thousand words could do.

It is a set of photographs depicting how, in the words of some, “US Naval aviation was invented.”

The photos show a young pilot, 24-year-old Eugene B. Ely, on January 18, 1911, making the world’s first successful aircraft landing on a ship, the cruiser USS Pennsylvania, in San Francisco Bay.

To accommodate the landing, a temporary, 133-foot wooden landing strip had been built above the Pennsylvania’s afterdeck and gun turret.

On the morning of January 18, 1911, flying a Curtiss Model D “Pusher” biplane fitted with what has come to be known as a tail hook, a device designed to hopefully catch one or two of 22 rope lines on the Pennsylvania and quickly halt the aircraft; Eugene Ely spotted his target through the gray haze.

After some maneuvers, Ely headed straight for the ship, cut his engine when he was only 75 feet from the fantail, and allowed the wind to glide the aircraft onto the landing deck. At a speed of 40 mph Ely landed on the centerline of the Pennsylvania’s deck at 11:01 a.m. The hooks on the undercarriage caught the ropes exactly as planned, which brought the plane to a complete stop.

Landing on Pennsylvania

Ely had successfully demonstrated the possibility of the aircraft carrier and naval history had been made.

After interviews, ceremonies and dinner, the plane-landing platform was cleared, Ely’s airplane was turned around and Ely made a perfect take-off — albeit a little precarious-looking.

 

Taking-off Pennsylvania

Now, 101 years later, compare Ely’s biplane to our F/A-18A (I do realize I am comparing civilian apples to military oranges).

More important, compare the USS Pennsylvania and its improvised landing deck to, for example, the Nimitz class USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77), the newest of the 10 largest aircraft carriers in the world.

USS George H.W. Bush-CVN 771

These are those ships’ “characteristics”:

Propulsion: Two nuclear reactors, four shafts.

Length: 1,092 feet (332.85 meters).

Beam: 134 feet (40.84 meters); Flight Deck Width: 252 feet (76.8 meters).

Displacement: Approximately 97,000 tons (87,996.9 metric tons) full load.

Speed: 30+ knots (34.5+ miles per hour).

Crew: Ship’s Company: 3,000-3,200, air wing: 1,500, other: 500.

Armament: Multiple NATO Sea Sparrow, Phalanx CIWS, and 

Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) mounts.

Aircraft: Approximately 60+.

But those 60+ aircraft still use those tail hooks!

Sadly, Ely did not live to see his dream come true when in 1922 the US Navy commissioned its first aircraft carrier, the USS Langley. Ely had died 11 years earlier when he was thrown from his aircraft during a crash at an air show — just a few months after his historic flight.

Ely in his biplane

Photographs: Courtesy U.S. Navy

"Magic Weapon" DF-21D: Chinese "Carrier Killer" for US Aircraft Carriers

Work under way on China's second aircraft carrier at Dalian yard

China is reportedly building a second aircraft carrier, estimated to be completed by 2018, on its way to expanding its fleet to four of the massive ships.

Media reports - later deleted from the internet - stated Liaoning party chief Wang Min told a panel of the provincial people's congress that the second carrier was being built in the city of Dalian. The reports also quoted Wang as saying the port city was building two advanced 052D destroyers. 

 

Wang Min

Wang told delegates from Dalian yesterday that the shipyard had started building China's second carrier after the first one, Liaoning, was delivered to the navy. The shipyard was responsible for refitting Liaoning, formerly a Ukrainian carrier.

Wang said construction of the new carrier would take six years and China's navy would eventually have four.

While the report did not specify the exact completion date, the new carrier is expected to be completed in 2018, based on the delivery date of Liaoning to the navy in September 2012.

It was the first confirmation by a senior official that China was building a second carrier, as well as the location and the timetable of its construction. The Defence Ministry has been tight-lipped about the progress of the plan.

The South China Morning Post reported in November that China would build four medium carriers by 2020. A country needs three to four carrier battlegroups for combat capability. The United States, by comparison, has 10 active carriers.

The carriers are part of China's push to develop a so-called blue water navy at a time when tension is running high with neighbours including Japan and the Philippines. In December, the USS Cowpens had to change course to avoid a near collision with one of the ships in the Liaoning squadron conducting tests in the South China Sea.

Military experts yesterday were divided about why the report was removed from the internet.

"I am sure Wang Min did say that in the panel meeting. But it seems that it is not proper for him to make the news public," a senior naval colonel said, requesting anonymity.

One retired PLA general said: "There is only one reason for such an important piece of news to come out in this way: the central authorities want to keep it low profile."

Macau-based military expert Wang Dong yesterday said it made sense that Dalian shipyard was responsible for the construction of the new carrier.

"However, it is worth keeping an eye if Dalian also gets the orders to build type 052D destroyers as they are usually built by Shanghai shipyard. If Dalian is building both, it may exceed their capacity,' he said.

A spokesman of Defence Ministry yesterday declined to comment when reached by the Sunday Morning Post.

Chinese Ford Class Super Aircraft Carrier