Shipbucket

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"There was nothing wrong with Titanic when she left the Shipyard" Tim McGarry Belfast Comedian

That would be a nice sight now wouldn't it? I once toyed around with the idea of the USN building a pair or trio of modern CVEs to combat pirates and conduct similar black ops missions. I'm surprised that they didn't decide to use a smaller, faster ship considering that this is meant for commando operations. Unless its strictly for use against makeshift bands like the Somali pirates. If it were against a nation with some sophisticated radar/air/sea defenses or a littoral patrol unit, then I would imagine another Sea Fighter being built, or a modified destroyer. I may get around to drawing my CVE at some point...

But it would be nice to see someone have a go at this one. I would myself, but I don't have the option or the skill to use GIMP or Photoshop, and only have Paintbrush for the Mac.

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Worklist:
Puerto Oeste - AU - WWI-WWII

Is it just me that giggled at the name USS Ponce?!

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Jabba's Worklist

Hey it's a ship meant to support combat in the littorals. A Littoral Combat Ship if you will.

I wonder what this means......

<Sarcasm off>

But seriously, this is what the LCS should have been from day 1. High speed doesn't buy you much for a lot of things when most of your operations are going to be off of smaller embarked craft that can go fast already. 10 Years ago when computing power wasn't as good as it is today, the idea of a high speed ship to operate as a control node for UxV ops wasn't so far fetched. With further miniaturization however, the on-craft processing power has soared, and the need for a ship to run the processing off of has diminished. Something like this (USS Ponce) makes a lot of sense.

Think of her as a "Commando Tender" and the mission works.

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𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐍𝐄𝐓- 𝑻𝒐 𝑪𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆

Uhm... the LCS is very much misnamed to get it past Congress. The LCS is a corvette, a light warship; it is not some kind of anti-piracy ship. Though they have no 'permanent defensive armament' they are able to carry anything that is necessary for the missions they are assigned. Anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, anti-aircraft duty... all in shallow water, this is what they are built for.

Now, this is an anti-piracy ship... intentionally built to be cheap and carry small interceptor boats.
It has a deck for helicopters to refuel on, extending their range.
It has berthing for several platoons of troops.
It has everything you need to go up against pirates.

Great. Then why the heck do you need to go 50 knots? It's not like those 20 knots buy you much of anything in the real world other than a pitiful range. The LCSes don't have any real ASuW or ASW capabilities other than the 57mm gun and the helos they embark - even the Perry has a bigger gun and a towed array. If you are going to do modules like the LCS planned for, why don't you go and give yourself some range with some ability to take more than one module and plenty of UxV space - which, right now it looks like the LCSes are going to be (UxV platforms).

Personally, I really don't see what the reduction in draft actually buys you when you can carry lots of small craft.
Yes, This ship is very good for what we want it to do - just make sure you don't call it a battleship (Like Haaretz did).

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Yeah, something large enough to operate rotary-wing aircraft and maybe VSTOLs, but also have a well deck so it can deploy fast interceptor craft, and maybe large facilities aboard so it can deploy boarding teams and special forces. Maybe something like this.
The faster ships are the ships that are deployed onboard the mothership. Simple physics means that a smaller craft will catch up to a target more efficiently than a larger one. You don't need to worry about firepower because chances are you've got fire support from helicopters or supporting vessels.

Yeah, I was gonna raise that issue too. The LCS still ostensibly has some sort of mothership capability or at least the large helipad and hangar and "wet" facilities are vestiges of those requirements.

Anyway, I'm surprised they've settled on such a well-worn ship on the verge of decommissioning instead of, say, a newer Whidbey Island class.

I don't think that something that big is necessary, I think what the navy has chosen was a good choice.

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Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. - Albert Einstein
The only stupid questions are the ones that go unasked.
Korean AU

Pitiful range?
Are we talking about the same ships?
The Independence class ships get 4300 n. mi. @ 18 knots.
The O.H.P. class got 4,500 n. mi. 20 knots.

If anybody was guilty of trying to be a speedboat, it was the Perry class frigates- which didn't have a job much different than the LCS is envisioned for ATM. If one can build a fast ship, one that can be used in a fleet role in a pinch, it behooves one to do so- especially when light fleet escorts are becoming rarer every day in the U.S.N., the LCS needs that speed to operate in a fleet role in emergency situations.

I've always thought that the 'heavy mothership' was the way to go there... part of a three-tiered system that would enforce zones of control: 1.) a full-sized CVA/CVN to serve as air cover, 2.) a slow mothership for rapid-response assault vessels, and 3.) moderate-sized patrol vessels with good range and heavy gun armament to escort convoys.

I meant to imply that I was talking about range at speed which is pitiful for the LCS designs. The OHPs were not any better, but they were not any worse. As for speed to keep with the fleet, I think that's a good justification for a top speed of 35 knots (enough that it gets 30 deep and dirty).

In practical terms the LCSes are going to have the minesweeping modules most of the time I can go with a 4-5k ton ship if it comes with ESSM to start with. Think Absalons with well decks.

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