Crowood - Vital Guide - Modern Warships.pdf - Crowood Press - MiliFan

--OD

SHIPS

LEO

MARRIOTT

CONTENTS

Notes on Data Tables

Introduction

Aircraft Carriers

Submarines

First published in the UK in 2001

by Airlife Publishing Ltd

Major Warships

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book

is available from the British Library

Destroyers & Frigates

ISBN 1 84037 177 3

Small Warships

The information in this book is true and complete

to the best of our knowledge. All

recommendations are made without any

guarantee on the part of the Publisher, who also

disclaims any liability incurred in connection with

the use of this data or specific details.

106

Amphibious Warfare Vessels

118

Logistic Support Vessels

Glossary

reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any

means, electronic or mechanical including

photocopying, recording or by any information

storage and retrieval system, without permission

from the Publisher in writing.

126

127

Index

Typeset by Echelon, Wimborne

Printed in Hong Kong

Airlife Publishing Ltd

101 Longden Road, Shrewsbury,

SY3 9EB, England

E-mail: airlife@airlifebooks.com

Website: www.airlifebooks.com

Notes on Data

Tables

The following notes apply to the data provided in the

description

each

warship

type

listed

the

following pages.

Type:

The standard NATO designations are used to

describe the function of the ship (see Glossary).

Nationality:

Normally the country which is the major user of

the relevant warship class, although the country

of construction may also be indicated.

Class:

The name which refers to the group of ships of

the same design. Most are normally named after

the lead ship, although a generic designation may

be applied (e.g Type 42).

T he modern warship is a complex

In order to give a balanced picture, it is

not only the major vessels which are

described but also representative

samples of smaller warships, including

fast and well-armed corvettes or fast

attack craft, as well as often overlooked,

but vital, mine warfare vessels. A major

function of modern navies is power

projection, the ability to transfer and

support significant land, sea and air

forces to any part of the world within

reach of the sea. In modern littoral

warfare, this can include objectives up to

150 miles (240km) inland and involves the

deployment of purpose-built amphibious

warfare vessels, examples of which are

also described. Finally, the ocean is a

large place and the distances to be

covered are great, often taking warships

thousands of miles away from their home

bases. In such situations the presence of a

well-equipped logistics system is vital and

this can also act as a force multiplier as

well as merely providing supplies. A

representative selection of logistic

support vessels is therefore also included.

For convenience and ease of reference,

the ships described in the main body of

this book are grouped according to the

following broad classifications: Aircraft

Carriers, Submarines, Major Warships,

Destroyers and Frigates, Small Warships,

Amphibious Warfare and Logistic

Support. In each group, the ships are

presented in descending order of size as

indicated by their standard displacement.

vessel. In the last thirty years the pace

of change and development has greatly

increased as new technologies, including

electronics, missiles, propulsion and

hydrodynamics, have been applied to

make each ship more effective than its

predecessor. As in any form of warfare,

there is a constant struggle to upset the

balance between attack and defence, and

the situation is made more complex by

the fact that warships must basically fight

in three separate environments: on the

surface of the sea, under the surface and

in the air above. Here, the reader is

presented with a representative sample of

modern warships although, in a book this

size, it would be impossible to describe

every type of warship in use. There are

literally hundreds of warship and

submarine classes in service today, so

some type of selection has been

necessary in order to reduce these to

manageable proportions. In general,

therefore, the most modern and up-to-

date vessels are described, although it

has been necessary to include some older

ships where these have a particular

operational significance. For example,

many of the current US Navy aircraft

carriers are over thirty years old but are

still among the most powerful warships in

existence.

Displacement:

Unless otherwise indicated, the figure given is the

standard displacement.

Length, Beam and Draught:

Measurements given in feet and metres to one

point of decimals. Unless otherwise specified,

length refers to overall length, beam to the widest

part of the hull and draught to keel depth.

Machinery:

Propulsion type. Power ratings relate to maximum

available continuous power which may be less

than the peak figure sometimes quoted.

Speed:

Maximum unless otherwise specified.

Armament:

Described under Missiles and Guns, together

with a section describing any anti-submarine or

underwater weapons systems such as torpedoes,

mortars and decoys.

Sensors:

Describes radar and sonar systems fitted.

Aircraft:

Figure quoted is normally the maximum number

which can be embarked.

Some

other

major

warship

classes

are

included

where

they

are

operationally

significant,

despite

being

relatively long in the tooth.

UNITED STATES

CVN, Nimitz

T HERE ARE CURRENTLY EIGHT of these massive

nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service with the

US Navy. A ninth, USS Ronald Reagan ICVN-76), is

under construction while CVN-77 was authorised in

1999 but will not commission until 2008. Originally the

first three were known as the Nimitz class after the

lead ship was completed in 1975, the others being the

Ow(ght O. Eisenhower (1977) and Carl Vinson (1982).

Subsequent vessels formed the Theodore Roosevelt

class. However, apart from an increased full load

displacement and many detail differences, they are

now regarded as a single class for operational

purposes. The Theodore Roosevelt commissioned in

1986, followed by the Abraham Lincoln (1989), George

Washington (1992), John C Stennis (1995) and Harry

S. Truman (1998).

These carriers are the largest warships ever built

and their nuclear reactors have an expected life of up

to 15 years, representing around one million miles

between refuelling. The 4.5-acre (18,200m') flightdeck

is home to up to 80 aircraft of the assigned carrier air

wing ICVW) which typically includes 50 fighters and

strike aircraft IF-14 Tomcat and F-18 Hornet) as well as

electronic warfare, AEW and ASW aircraft and

helicopters. These are organised into 10 separate

squadrons and most of the aircraft are usually ranged

on deck as the hangars, despite their size, can

accommodate no more than half this total Three deck-

edge lifts on the starboard side and one on the port

side are provided for the transfer of aircraft between

flightdeck and hangars. There are four Type C Mk.13

Mod 1 steam catapults which can accelerate the

heaviest aircraft to a speed in excess of 170mph

1270kph) within 3 seconds through a stroke of 310ft

195m). For landing, there are four arrester wires which

can bring an aircraft to rest from a landing speed of

160mph (260kph) within a distance 300ft (91 m).

The last ship to be built, CVN-77, will be laid down

in 2003 and completion is planned for 2008. Originally

this was to have been to a new CVX design, but

instead CVN-77 will be based upon the basic Nimitz

design and will carry new equipment and systems,

possibly including electromagnetic catapults instead of

the current steam catapults. The design of the island

superstructure will also be altered, and may be broken

up into several smaller structures.

USS Abraham Lincoln, Nimitz class CVN.

(Public Affairs Office, USS Abraham Lincoln)

.. -~ .. ~~\..~I-' , ,.>~"--!!I!!~~!!~'!:1'':c'.:::;;':;;;\i

USS Nimitz, CVN-68.

(Public Affairs Office, USS Nimitz)

SPECIFICATION

Type: CVN

Class: Nimitz

Displacement: 102,000 tons full load

Length: 1,092ft 1317m)

Beam: wi 134ft 1408ml, flightdeck 252ft (76.8m)

Draught: 39ft Il1.9m)

Machinery: nuclear; 2 Westinghouse/GE A1G PWR

reactors; 4 turbines, 260,000hp; 4 emergency diesels,

10,nOhp; 4 shafts

Speed & Range: 30kt +; 15 years between reactor

refuelling

Complement: 5,930 (including air group and staffl

Missiles: 3 Mk.29 octuple launchers, Sea Sparrow short-

range SAM; RAM short-range SAM being fitted

Guns: 4 Vulcan/Phalanx 6-barrelled 20mm CIWS

ASW & USW: SSTDS torpedo defence system; SLQ-36

Nixie torpedo decoy

Sensors: radar: SPS-48E long-range 3D air search; SPS-

49 air search; Mk.23 target acquisition; SPS-67 surface

search; SPN43B, SPN46 aircraft control; SPS-64 and

Furuno 900 navigation; Mk.9S fire control

Aircraft: 70 fixed-wing aircraft, 10 helicopters Itypical air

wing)

INote: data applies to Abraham Lincoln and later ships)

M ajor vessels equipped with

other country which currently has a

substantial conventional aircraft carrier

is France, although the UK plans two

40,OOO-ton carriers for service around

2013. The development of a viable

vertical take-off aircraft in the form ofthe

Sea Harrier and the later AV-8A/B has

enabled a number of other navies to

aspire to carrier aviation. These include

the UK with its three Invincible class

ships, Spain, Italy and Thailand. India

also has an ex-British carrier and is

planning to acquire one of the larger

Russian carriers, which is now available,

although

continuous flightdecks whose

purpose is the operation and support of

naval fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.

Their main functions include air defence

of naval forces by establishing local air

superiority, offensive operations against

enemy naval forces, support of

amphibious landings, support of ground

operations ashore, anti-submarine war-

fare and reconnaissance. The most

significant ships in this group are the

large nuclear-powered carriers of the US

Navy, Russian attempts to compete

having collapsed after the end of the

Cold War in the early 1990s. The only

this

will

operate

the

potent

supersonic MiG-29K.

USS Abraham Lincoln, Nimitz class CVN.

(Public Affairs Office, USS Abraham Lincoln)

Crowood - Vital Guide - Modern Warships.pdf

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