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We've been hearing rumblings about the U.S. Navy's triple-hulled ships,
but here's one that was launched in 2008, the USS Independence...
This tri-maran is the first of the new fire-breathing breed,
ready to scoot out of dry dock at a rumored 60 knots...
It's like a speedy and heavily armed aircraft carrier for helicopters.
A couple of these should be able to easily clean all the pirates out of the Indian Ocean.
USS Independence (LCS-2) A Triple Hulled, Weapon-Laden Monster.
Built by General Dynamics, it's called a "littoral combat ship" (LCS),
and the tri-maran can move huge weapons around faster than any ship in the Navy.
With all that high tech built in, the ship reminds us of the Merrimac ironclad from Civil War days.
Littoral means close to shore, and that's where these fleet-hulled babies will operate,
tailor-made for launching helicopters and armored vehicles, sweeping mines
and firing all manner of torpedoes, missiles, and machine guns.
These ships were designed to be relatively inexpensive this - one's a bargain at $208 million and the Navy plans to build 55 of them.
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Name: USS Independence
Awarded: 14 October 2005
Builder: Austal USA
Laid down: 19 January 2006
Launched: 26 April 2008
Christened: 4 October 2008
Commissioned: 16 January 2010
Homeport: San Diego
Status: in active service, as of 2010
General characteristics
Class and type: Independence-class littoral combat ship
Displacement: 2,176 tons light, 2,784 tons full, 608 tons deadweight
Length: 127.4 m (418 ft)
Beam: 31.6 m (104 ft)
Draft: 13 ft (3.96 m)
Propulsion: 2× gas turbines, 2× MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH 8000 Series diesel engines, 4× waterjets, retractable Azimuth thruster, 4× diesel generators
Speed: 44 knots (51 mph; 81 km/h)
Range: 4,300 nm at 20+ knots
Capacity: 210 metric tons (206 long tons, 231 short tons)
Complement: 40 core crew (8 officers, 32 enlisted) plus up to 35 mission crew
Sensors and processing systems:
- Sea Giraffe 3D Surface/Air RADAR
- Bridgemaster-E Navigational RADAR
- AN/KAX-2 EO/IR sensor for GFC
Electronic warfare and decoys:
- EDO ES-3601 ESM
- 4× SRBOC rapid bloom chaff launchers
Armament:
- BAE Systems Mk 110 57 mm gun [5]
- 4× .50-cal guns (2 aft, 2 forward)
- Evolved SeaRAM 11 cell missile launcher
- Mission modules
Aircraft carried:
- 2× MH-60R/S Seahawks
- MQ-8 Fire Scout
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| U.S. Navy SH-60F with external fuel tank. |
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| USN MQ-8B with the BRITE Star II electro-optical/infrared payload |
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