Shipbucket

My Entry:



CCG-3 USS United States
Refit from P6 S4 DS1 (SS United States) under Ship Characteristics Board program 407.11

Following the decommissioning of the USS Northampton and USS Wright in 1970, and the planned eventual retirement of the command space equipped missile cruisers at the end of the decade - a likely retirement without replacement as the procurement of the nuclear powered guided missile cruisers was slower than what would be needed for a one to one replacement cycle, the United States Navy began investigating options to cover the expected gap in fleet command and Continuity of Government capabilities.

It was the observation of the large black hull by a young navy office stationed at Newport News, Virginia that began the long process that saw the ocean liner converted into a command ship. Following several years of planning, and much debate in congress, approval for the 'conversion' of the ocean liner into a 'self escorting command ship' was authorized in 1974. Once authorized, work proceeded quickly, and 'Big U' was commissioned as "USS United States" on 4 July 1977. The decision to move from the original proposal for a command ship to a 'self escorting command ship' was the result of a desire to take the most advantage of the size and speed of the existing hull. The increase in cost however ensured that Big U's sister (SS President Washington, known colloquially as Big Double-U) would never receive a similar refit.

Mechanical:
8 Babcock & Wilcox boilers at 925psi and 975F
4 Westinghouse double-reduction turbines (240kshp)
Top speed 'Greater than 35 knots sustained with a range in excess of 7000 nautical miles at sustained high speed cruise'
Displacement: In excess of 45k tons
Length: 990 feet
Beam: 101.5 feet
Draft: 32 feet 4 inches.


Sensors:
Radar:
SPG-59 (10k element version)
SPS-43 (long range Air search, great for looking like a carrier to the Red Banner Fleet ESM)
SPS-10 (surface Search)
Assorted surface search sets

Sonar:
SQS-23

ESM/ECM:
SLQ-17 (Active Jamming)
WLR-1 (Direction Finding)
WLR-3 (Direction Finding)
ULQ-6 (Active Jamming)

Armaments:
Mk 10 Mod 2 GMLS (2x80) for Typhon-LR & Advanced ASROC/SUBROC replacement
SEA MAULER (4x9) for CIWS
T-249 (4x 37mm Gatling cannon) for CIWS
Mk 32 SVTT for 12.74" torpedoes

Comms:
ALL OF THE COMMS (Systems roughly equal those aboard both a carrier and an LCC in HF, VHF, UHF, and SATCOM missions)

Embarked Craft:
SH-3 (x3) for ASW and transport. In-deck hanger provides space for up to four large helicopters.
40' Utility boat (x2)
40' Personnel boat (x2)
26' Personnel boat (x1)
26' Utility boat (x1)
LCM-8 (x1)
Enough Liferafts

_________________
𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐍𝐄𝐓- 𝑻𝒐 𝑪𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆

The WIP inspired me to dig back into Friedman's Seapower and Space last night

The communication systems did make me think of the Blue Ridge, and hence did lead to me thinking that had a flagship role.

Hehe, and why might that be?

Why, it's almost as if I found diagrams diagrams showing the antennas on an LCC.

Which is totally what happened.

_________________
𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐍𝐄𝐓- 𝑻𝒐 𝑪𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆

Well, it's getting together! Come on people, a few more?

_________________
Would you please not eat my gun...

What are you posting for it Miho?

_________________
Drawings are credited with J.Scholtens
I ask of you to prove me wrong. Not say I am wrong, but prove it, because then I will have learned something new.
Shipbucket Wiki admin

Smart, thoughtful discourse question on Sunday or so: "are you sure those liferafts were in service yet?"
Dumb, ill-considered response: "duh of course they were"

Survey says.... revision time lol.

Say hello to the Mk 5, a 15-man inflatable raft in a package about 27" in diameter by 56" long. Typically stored under a tarp in a bin, three per bin. Major thanks to Okieboat for being a brilliant reference for the period. Also, the boat disposition is much improved. Big kingposts handle the major stuff, and there is a small utility boat on davits on either beam.

.
.
.


Challenge submission: CGN-36 'TyBeach', date in service ~1968ish



This concept is intended as a follow-on to CGN-9, making as few alterations as are necessary to get Typhon and SPG-59 to sea in a serviceable unit. Long Beach is an attractive starting point because of the known heavy power requirements for SPG-59 and because SCANFAR was very heavy and very high up. I was happy to discover that the New York Navy Yard, with its attendant 135' Brooklyn Bridge clearance limit, was closed in 1966 (and surely would have been understood to be departing somewhat sooner). This retirement made the main mast configuration possible (although I'm drawing it as a somewhat disassemble-able system, with everything above a bolted break, below the ESM level and above the upper wire cage, lifted off by a Chinook or whatever).

Even in this era, it must have seemed obvious that capital-C Cruisers were on their way out, and any such unit would necessarily need to accommodate a task force commander. We retain a flag bridge for this purpose.

We might envision that, much like D2G, the reactors might offer a bit more power in later marks. This is my way of handwaving and saying we can still make 30 knots with the radar lit up

Sensors
Radar
SPG-59 (3400 element) 3D search, track, and missile fire control
SPS-49 (2x) 2D long-range air search, integrated 360deg output via SPS-22 technology
SPG-XX (3x) 3D track and gun/missile fire control
SPS-10 surface search
Raytheon Pathfinder (2x) navigation set

Sonar
SQS-26 low-frequency bow array

ESM/ECM
Sword/Derby intercept antennas
WLR-1 wide-band direction finding
ULQ-6 deception jammer
CHAFFROC (2x2x4)

.
.
.

Armament
Mk 10 GMLS (2x80) for Typhon-LR, ASROC
Mk 13 GMLS (3x40) for Typhon-MR (beam mounts are elevated to avoid main deck penetration)
Mk 42 5"/54 DP gun
Mk 32 SVTT for 12.75" torpedoes

.
.
.

Comms
2-30Mhz discage amidships, from Composite Discage Antenna Developed for 2-to-30 mc/s Band (PDF). Bracing this tall mainmast and electrically sensitive HF discage antenna is a set of non-conductive fiberglass tension rods, which is period-appropriate and probably functional.
10-30Mhz sleeve antenna, bow
30-108Mhz (VHF): 3x 12' whip, AS-3226C or similar
225-400Mhz (UHF): AS-1735 around-the-mast (2x), AS-1018 4' monopole (3x)
TACAN (SRN-6E)
LORAN (AS-2209)
WSC-1 satcom
SSR-1 satcom

.
.
.

Embarked Craft
SH-3 (2x) ASW and utility helo (twin hangars, with control station above)
40' utility boat (2x) amidships
40' personnel boat amidships
33' flag barge amidships
26' utility boat (2x), forward, port and starboard
Mk 5 life raft (72x, 15 man ea)

.
.
.

To the extent SPG-59 could have been made to work, the resulting missile cruiser is dramatically superior to Long Beach in nearly every way.

I think this design does not overweight or overvolume the underlying Long Beach hull or badly compromise the trim and balance, and it is reasonable according to the assumptions made for the purposes of the challenge.

Big thanks to acelancelot for the Long Beach underwater hull! We talked about it and he felt it was minor enough to not require credits.

Wonderful except for the lack of black outlines on the windows

_________________
USN components, camouflage colors, & reference links (World War II only)

Very good looking, but I've got to agree with Colo: The color of the windows and the lack of black outline is kinda taking away from it.

_________________
Would you please not eat my gun...