Sunday, September 28, 2008

How Aircraft Carrier works

Introduction:
When the U.S. Navy really needs to impress people, it flies them out to one of its super aircraft carriers. Standing 20 stories above the water and stretching 1,092 feet (333 meters) from bow to stern (about as long as the 77-story Chrysler Building is tall), the sheer bulk of these ships is awe-inspiring. But the really amazing thing about a supercarrier isn't its size; it's the intense scene on its flight deck. When the crew is in full swing, it can launch or land a plane every 25 seconds -- all in a fraction of the space available on a typical landing strip.
In this article,we'll find out what the U.S. Navy's modern Nimitz-class aircraft carriers are all about. We'll learn what's on the different decks, take a look at the amazing machines that help launch and land aircraft, and find out a little about daily life on these enormous floating bases. As we'll see, the modern aircraft carrier is one of the most amazing vehicles ever created.

USS Nimitz
Photo courtesy U.S. Dept. of Defense
The USS Nimitz, one of the U.S. Navy's super aircraft carriers. See more pictures of aircraft carriers.



At its most basic level, an aircraft carrier is simply a ship outfitted with a flight deck -- a runway area for launching and landing airplanes. This concept dates back almost as far as airplanes themselves. Within 10 years of the Wright Brothers' historic 1903 flight, the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany were launching test flights from platforms attached to cruisers. The experiments proved largely successful, and the various naval forces started adapting existing warships for this purpose. The new carriers allowed military forces to transport short-range aircraft all over the world.
USS George Washington
Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Defense
The USS George Washington, one of the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered super aircraft carriers

Carriers didn't play a huge role in World War I, but they were central to the air combat of World War II. For example, the Japanese launched the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor from aircraft carriers. Today, super aircraft carriers are a crucial part of almost all major U.S. military operations. While the ship itself isn't especially useful as a weapon, the air power it transports can make the difference between victory and defeat.

One of the major obstacles of using air power in war is getting the planes to their destination. To maintain an air base in a foreign region, the United States (or any other nation) has to make special arrangements with a host country, and then has to abide by that country's rules, which may change over time. Needless to say, this can be extremely difficult in some parts of the world.

Under international Freedom of Navigation laws, aircraft carriers and other warships are recognized as sovereign territories in almost all of the ocean. As long as a ship doesn't get too close to any nation's coast, the crew can carry on just like they're back home. So, while the U.S. military would have to make special arrangements with a foreign nation to set up a land military base, it can freely move a carrier battle group (an assembly of an aircraft carrier and six to eight other warships) all over the globe, just as if it were a little piece of the United States. Bombers, fighters and other aircraft can fly a variety of missions into enemy territory, and then return to the relatively safe home base of the carrier group. In most cases, the Navy can continually replenish (resupply) the carrier group, allowing it to maintain its position indefinitely.

Carriers can move in excess of 35 knots (40 mph, 64 kph), which gives them the ability to get anywhere in the ocean in a few weeks. The United States currently has six carrier groups stationed around the world, ready to move into action at a moment's notice.


Talking the Talk
Ships have their own special language, particularly when it comes to getting from point to point. Here's a quick primer, in case you don't know aft from bow.
  • Stern - the rear of the ship
  • Bow - the front of the ship
  • Starboard - the right side of the ship (if you're facing the bow)
  • Port - the left side of the ship
  • Forward - moving toward the bow of the ship (as in, "Moving forward on the flight deck" or "The hangar deck is forward of the fantail.")
  • Aft - moving toward the stern of the ship
  • Inboard - moving from the side of the ship toward the center of the ship
  • Outboard - moving from the center of the ship to the side of the ship
  • Below - on a lower deck (as in, "Going below to the hangar" -- You never "go downstairs" on a ship, you always "go below.")
  • Fantail - the stern area of the main deck (the hangar deck on a carrier) .
    THE PARTS OF AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER:
  • With about a billion individual pieces, the U.S. Nimitz-class supercarriers are among the most complex machines on earth. But on a conceptual level, they're pretty simple. They're designed to do four basic jobs:
    • Transport a variety of aircraft overseas
    • Launch and land airplanes
    • Serve as a mobile command center for military operations
    • House all the people who do these things

    To accomplish these tasks, a carrier needs to combine elements of a ship, an air force base, and a small city. Among other things, it needs:

    • A flight deck, a flat surface on the top of the ship where aircraft can take off and land
    • A hangar deck, an area below deck to stow aircraft when not in use
    • An island, a building on top of the flight deck where officers can direct flight and ship operations
    • Room for the crew to live and work
    • A power plant and propulsion system to move the boat from point to point and to generate electricity for the entire ship
    • Various other systems to provide food and fresh water and to handle things that any city has to deal with, like sewage, trash and mail, as well as carrier-based radio and television stations and newspapers
    • The hull, the main body of the ship, which floats in water

    The diagrams below show how these various components fit together.

    Cutaway diagram of an aircraft carrier
    Cutaway view

    Diagram of an aircraft carrier viewed from the top
    Top view

    The hull of the ship is made up of extremely strong steel plates, measuring several inches thick. This heavy body is highly effective protection against fire and battle damage. The ship's structural support largely comes from three horizontal structures extending across the entire hull: the keel (the iron backbone on the bottom of the ship), the flight deck and the hangar deck.

    The hull portion below the water line is rounded and relatively narrow, while the section above water flares out to form the wide flight-deck space. The lower section of the ship has a double bottom, which is pretty much what it sounds like -- there are two layers of steel plating: the bottom plating of the ship and another layer above it, separated by a gap. The double bottom provides extra protection from torpedos or accidents at sea. If the enemy hits the bottom of the ship, smashing a hole in the outer steel layer, the second layer will prevent a massive leak.

    Building an Aircraft Carrier

    Since the 1950s, almost all U.S. supercarriers have been constructed at Northrop Grumman Newport News in Newport News, Virginia. To make the construction process more efficient, most of each supercarrier is assembled in separate modular pieces called superlifts. Each superlift may contain many compartments (rooms), spanning multiple decks, and they can weigh anywhere from 80 to 900 tons (~70 to 800 metric tons). A supercarrier is made up of almost 200 separate superlifts.

    USS Ronald Reagan under construction
    Photo courtesy Northrop Grumman Newport News

    USS Ronald Reagan under construction
    Photo courtesy Northrop Grumman Newport News
    The USS Ronald Reagan, under construction in the Northrop Grumman Newport News dry dock

    Before placing a superlift module into the ship, the construction crew assembles its steel body and hooks up almost all wiring and plumbing. Then they use a giant bridge crane to lift the module and lower it precisely into its proper position inside the ship; then they weld it to the surrounding modules. Near the end of construction, the crew joins the last module, the 575-ton island, to the flight deck.

    Lowering superlifts into position
    Photo courtesy U.S. Navy

    Lowering superlifts on the USS Harry S. Truman
    Photo courtesy U.S. Navy
    Lowering superlifts into position
    on the USS Harry S. Truman

    Just like the family motor boat, an aircraft carrier propels itself through the water by spinning propellers. Of course, at about 21 feet (6.4 meters) across, a carrier's four bronze screw propellers are in a very different league than a recreational boat's. They also have a lot more power behind them. Each propeller is mounted to a long shaft, which is connected to a steam turbine powered by a nuclear reactor.

    The carrier's two nuclear reactors, housed in a heavily-armored, heavily restricted area in the middle of the ship, generate loads of high-pressure steam to rotate fan blades inside the turbine. The fans turn the turbine shaft, which rotates the screw propellers to push the ship forward, while massive rudders steer the ship. The propulsion system boasts something in excess of 280,000 horsepower (the Navy doesn't release exact numbers).

    The four onboard turbines also generate electricity to power the ship's various electric and electronic systems. This includes an onboard desalination plant that can turn 400,000 gallons (~1,500,000 liters) of saltwater into drinkable freshwater every day -- that's enough for 2,000 homes.

    Unlike the old oil-boiler carriers, modern nuclear carriers don't have to refuel regularly. In fact, they can go 15 to 20 years without refueling. The trade-offs are a more expensive power plant, a longer, more complicated refueling process (it takes several years) and the added risk of a nuclear disaster at sea. To minimize the risk of such a catastrophe, the reactors inside a supercarrier are heavily shielded and closely monitored.

    Big Numbers
    These stats paint a nice picture of the scope of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.

    From the USS Theodore Roosevelt Web site:

    • Total height, from keel to mast - 244 feet (~74 meters), as high as a 24 story building.
    • Fully loaded displacement (the weight of water displaced by the ship when in full combat mode) - 97,000 tons (~88,000 metric tons)
    • Weight of structural steel - 60,000 tons (~54,000 metric tons)
    • Total area of flight deck - 4.5 acres (~1.8 hectares)
    • Length of flight deck - 1,092 feet (~333 meters)
    • Width of flight deck (at the widest point) - 257 feet (~78 meters)
    • Number of compartments and spaces onboard - 4,000+
    • Weight of each anchor - 30 tons (~27 metric tons)
    • Weight of each link in the anchor chains - 360 pounds (~160 kg)
    • Weight of each propeller - 66,200 pounds (~30,000 kg)
    • Weight of each rudder - 45.5 tons (~41 metric tons)
    • Storage capacity for aviation fuel - 3.3 million gallons (~12.5 million liters)
    • Number of telephones onboard - 2,500+
    • Number of televisions onboard - 3,000+
    • Total length of electrical cable onboard - 1,000+ miles (1,600+ km)
    • Air conditioning plant capacity - 2,250 tons (~2,040 metric tons, enough to cool more than 500 houses)

    From the USS Nimitz Web site:

    • Storage capacity for refrigerated and dried food: enough to feed 6,000 people for 70 days.
    • Mail processed every year by onboard post office - 1 million pounds (~450,000 kg)
    • Number of dentists - 5
    • Number of medical doctors - 6
    • Beds in hospital ward - 53
    • Number of chaplains in interdenominational chapel - 3
    • Number of haircuts every week - 1,500+
    • Number of barbershops - 1

      Taking Off from an Aircraft Carrier

      An aircraft carrier flight deck is one of the most exhilarating and dangerous work environments in the world (not to mention one of the loudest). The deck may look like an ordinary land runway, but it works very differently, due to its smaller size. When the crew is in full swing, planes are landing and taking off at a furious rate in a limited space. One careless moment, and a fighter jet engine could suck somebody in or blast somebody off the edge of the deck into the ocean.

      But as dangerous as the flight deck is for the deck crew, they have it pretty easy compared to the pilots. The flight deck isn't nearly long enough for most military planes to make ordinary landings or takeoffs, so they have to head out and come in with some extraordinary machine assistance.

      An A-6E Intruder launches from the USS George Washington
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      An A-6E Intruder launches from the USS George Washington.

      If you've read How Airplanes Work, you know that an airplane has to get a lot of air moving over its wings to generate lift. To make takeoff a little easier, carriers can get additional airflow over the flight deck by speeding through the ocean, into the wind, in the direction of takeoff. This air moving over the wings lowers the plane's minimum takeoff speed.

      Getting air moving over the deck is important, but the primary takeoff assistance comes from the carrier's four catapults, which get the planes up to high speeds in a very short distance. Each catapult consists of two pistons that sit inside two parallel cylinders, each about as long as a football field, positioned under the deck. The pistons each have a metal lug on their tip, which protrudes through a narrow gap along the top of each cylinder. The two lugs extend through rubber flanges, which seal the cylinders, and through a gap in the flight deck, where they attach to a small shuttle.

      The shuttle of catapult number four on USS John Stennis
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      The shuttle of catapult number four on USS John Stennis

      To prepare for a takeoff, the flight deck crew moves the plane into position at the rear of the catapult and attaches the towbar on the plane's nose gear (front wheels) to a slot in the shuttle. The crew positions another bar, the holdback, between the back of the wheel and the shuttle (in F-14 and F/A-18 fighter jets, the holdback is built into the nose gear; in other planes, it's a separate piece).

      USS George Washington flight-deck crew member checks an F-14 Tomcat's catapult attachment
      Photo courtesy U.S Navy
      A member of the USS George Washington flight-deck crew checks an F-14 Tomcat's catapult attachment.

      While all of this is going on, the flight crew raises the jet blast deflector (JBD) behind the plane (aft of the plane, in this case). When the JBD, towbar and holdback are all in position, and all the final checks have been made, the catapult officer (also known as the "shooter") gets the catapults ready from the catapult control pod, a small, encased control station with a transparent dome that protrudes above the flight deck.

      F/A-18C Hornet prepares to launch from the USS George Washington
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      Steam rises from the catapult as an F/A-18C Hornet prepares to launch from the USS George Washington. You can see the catapult officer in the catapult control pod.

      An F-14 Tomcat, positioned in front of the jet blast deflector on USS Nimitz's catapult number 1
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      An F-14 Tomcat, positioned in front of the jet blast deflector on USS Nimitz's catapult number 1

      When the plane is ready to go, the catapult officer opens valves to fill the catapult cylinders with high-pressure steam from the ship's reactors. This steam provides the necessary force to propel the pistons at high speed, slinging the plane forward to generate the necessary lift for takeoff. Initially, the pistons are locked into place, so the cylinders simply build up pressure. The catapult officer carefully monitors the pressure level so it's just right for the particular plane and deck conditions. If the pressure is too low, the plane won't get moving fast enough to take off, and the catapult will throw it into the ocean. If there's too much pressure, the sudden jerk could break the nose gear right off.

      When the cylinders are charged to the appropriate pressure level, the pilot blasts the plane's engines. The holdback keeps the plane on the shuttle while the engines generate considerable thrust. The catapult officer releases the pistons, the force causes the holdbacks to release, and the steam pressure slams the shuttle and plane forward. At the end of the catapult, the tow bar pops out of the shuttle, releasing the plane. This totally steam-driven system can rocket a 45,000-pound plane from 0 to 165 miles per hour (a 20,000-kg plane from 0 to 266 kph) in two seconds!

      An F/A-18 Hornet launching from the USS George Washington
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      An F/A-18 Hornet launching from the USS George Washington

      If everything goes well, the speeding plane has generated enough lift to take off. If not, the pilot (or pilots) activate their ejector seats to escape before the plane goes hurdling into the ocean ahead of the ship (this hardly ever happens, but the risk is always there).

      Taking off is extremely difficult, but the real trick is coming back in.

      Landing on an Aircraft Carrier

      Landing on a flight deck is one of the most difficult things a navy pilot will ever do. The flight deck only has about 500 feet (~150 meters) of runway space for landing planes, which isn't nearly enough for the heavy, high-speed jets on U.S. carriers.

      To land on the flight deck, each plane needs a tailhook, which is exactly what it sounds like -- an extended hook attached to the plane's tail. The pilot's goal is to snag the tailhook on one of four arresting wires, sturdy cables woven from high-tensile steel wire.

      ES-3A Shadow comes in for a landing aboard the USS George Washington
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      An ES-3A Shadow comes in for a landing aboard the USS George Washington.

      The arresting wires are stretched across the deck and are attached on both ends to hydraulic cylinders below deck. If the tailhook snags an arresting wire, it pulls the wire out, and the hydraulic cylinder system absorbs the energy to bring the plane to a stop. The arresting wire system can stop a 54,000-pound aircraft travelling 150 miles per hour in only two seconds, in a 315-foot landing area (a 24,500-kg aircraft travelling at 241 kph in a 96-meter landing area).

      The tailhook of a KA-6D Intruder aircraft
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      The tailhook of a KA-6D Intruder aircraft, about to catch an arresting wire on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower

      An F/A-18C Hornet catches an arresting wire on the USS Nimitz
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      An F/A-18C Hornet catches an arresting wire on the USS Nimitz.

      There are four parallel arresting wires, spaced about 50 feet (15 meters) apart, to expand the target area for the pilot. Pilots are aiming for the third wire, as it's the safest and most effective target. They never shoot for the first wire because it's dangerously close to the edge of deck. If they come in too low on the first wire, they could easily crash into the stern of the ship. It's acceptable to snag the second or fourth wire, but for a pilot to move up through the ranks, he or she has to be able to catch the third wire consistently.

      To pull off this incredible trick, the pilot needs to approach the deck at exactly the right angle. The landing procedure starts when the various returning planes "stack up" in a huge oval flying pattern near the carrier. The Carrier Air Traffic Control Center below deck decides the landing order of the waiting planes based on their various fuel levels (a plane that's about to run out of fuel comes down before one that can keep flying for a while). When it's time for a plane to land, the pilot breaks free of this landing pattern and heads toward the stern of the ship.

      Landing Signals Officers (LSOs) help guide the plane in, through radio communication as well as a collection of lights on the deck. If the plane is off course, the LSOs can use radio commands or illuminate other lights to correct him or her or "wave him off" (send him around for another attempt).

      Landing Signals Officers guide a landing aircraft on the USS George Washington
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      The Landing Signals Officers guide a landing aircraft on the USS George Washington.

      Aircraft carrier Landing Signals Officers' work station
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      The video display console and communications/data board at the Landing Signals Officers' work station

      In addition to the LSOs, pilots look to the Fresnel Lens Optical Landing System, commonly referred to as the lens, for landing guidance. The lens consists of a series of lights and Fresnel lenses mounted to a gyroscopically stabilized platform. The lenses focus the light into narrow beams that are directed into the sky at various angles.

      The pilot will see different lights depending on the plane's angle of approach. If the plane is right on target, the pilot will see an amber light, dubbed the "meatball," in line with a row of green lights. If the amber light appears above the green lights, the plane is coming in too high; if the amber light appears below the green lights, the plane is coming in too low. If the plane is coming in way too low, the pilot will see red lights.

      The lens on the USS John F. Kennedy
      Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Defense
      "The lens" on the USS John F. Kennedy

      Diagram illustrating the Improved Fresnel Lens Optical Landing System
      Photo courtesy U.S. Navy
      A diagram illustrating the "Long-Range Lineup System (LRLS)."

      As soon as the plane hits the deck, the pilot will push the engines to full power, instead of slowing down, to bring the plane to a stop. This may seem counterintuitive, but if the tailhook doesn't catch any of the arresting wires, the plane needs to be moving fast enough to take off again and come around for another pass. The landing runway is tilted at a 14-degree angle to the rest of the ship, so bolters like this can take off from the side of the ship instead of plowing into the planes on the other end of the deck.

      As soon as an aircraft lands, it's pulled out of the landing strip and chained down on the side of the flight deck. Inactive aircraft are always tightly secured to keep them from sliding around as the deck rocks back and forth.

      The flight-deck crew has to be prepared for a wide range of unexpected events, including raging aircraft fires. During takeoff or recovery operations, they have plenty of safety equipment at the ready. Among other things, the flight deck has a small fire truck, and nozzles leading to water tanks and aqueous film-forming foam, an advanced fire-extinguishing material (there are also nozzles for jet fuel and a number of other useful liquids).


      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      An S-3A Viking aircraft lands on the USS Abraham Lincoln with the help of the crash barricade. The plane had to make an unconventional landing due to a problem with its landing gear.

      Flight-deck personnel also face the risk of a jet engine blowing them overboard. Safety nets around the side of the flight deck offer some protection, but for extra safety, personnel are also equipped with float coats, self-inflating jackets with flashing distress lights, activated by contact with water. Flight-deck personnel also wear heavy-duty helmets, called cranials, which protect their head and their hearing.

      The Island

      An aircraft carrier's "island" is the command center for flight-deck operations, as well as the ship as a whole. The island is about 150 feet (46 m) tall, but it's only 20 feet (6 m) wide at the base, so it won't take up too much space on the flight deck. The top of the island, well above the height of any aircraft on the flight deck, is spread out to provide more room.

      The island on the USS Abraham Lincoln
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      The island on the USS Abraham Lincoln

      The top of the island is outfitted with an array of radar and communications antennas, which keep tabs on surrounding ships and aircraft, intercept and jam enemy radar signals, target enemy aircraft and missiles and pick up satellite phone and TV signals, among other things. Below that is the Primary Flight Control, or Pri-Fly. In the Pri-Fly, the air officer and air officer assistant (known as the "Air Boss" and the "Mini Boss") direct all aircraft activity on the flight deck and within a 5-mile (8-km) radius.

      Aircraft carrier Primary Flight Control
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      The busy scene in the Pri-Fly

      The Air Boss and Mini-Boss, both experienced aviators, have an array of computers and communications equipment to keep tabs on everything, but they get a lot of information just by looking out their windows, six stories above the flight deck. When an approaching plane gets within three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km), the Landing Signals Officers take over control to direct the landing procedure. At the same level as the Pri-Fly, crew and visitors can walk out onto vulture's row, a balcony platform with a great view of the entire flight deck.

      The next level down is the bridge, the ship's command center. The commanding officer (the captain) usually cons (controls) this ship from a stately leather chair surrounded by computer screens. The commanding officer directs the helmsman, who actually steers the carrier, the lee helmsman, who directs the engine room to control the speed of the ship, the Quartermaster of the Watch, who keeps track of navigation information, and a number of lookouts and support personnel. When the commanding officer is not on the bridge, he puts an Officer of the Deck in charge of operations.

      Captain David Logsdon commands the USS Harry Truman from the flight deck
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      Captain David Logsdon commands the USS Harry Truman from the flight deck.

      The lee helmsman and helmsman on the USS Theodore Roosevelt
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      The lee helmsman (left) and helmsman
      on the USS Theodore Roosevelt

      Interestingly enough, many carrier commanding officers are former Navy airplane pilots, so they have a personal understanding of flight-deck operations. As long as they're in command of a carrier, however, they're prohibited from climbing into the cockpit to fly a plane themselves.

      Just like the Pri-Fly, the bridge is outfitted with an array of high-end monitors, including GPS receivers and many radar screens. But the commanding officer and his team still rely heavily on their own eyes to keep tabs on activity around the ship.

      The level below the bridge is the flag bridge, the command center for the admiral in charge of the entire carrier group. Below that, there are various operational centers, including the flight deck control and launch operations room. In this tight, windowless space, the aircraft handling officer (also called the handler or mangler) and his or her crew keep track of all the aircraft on the flight deck and in the hangar. The handler's primary tracking tool is the "Ouija Board," a two-level transparent plastic table with etched outlines of the flight deck and hangar deck. Each aircraft is represented by a scale aircraft cut-out on the table. When a real plane moves from point to point, the handler moves the model plane accordingly. When the plane is out of service, because it needs repair work, the handler turns it over.

      Crew members on the USS George Washington circle around the 'Ouija Board'
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      Crew members on the USS George Washington circle around the "Ouija Board."

      There are a number of additional control centers below deck, including the carrier air traffic control center (CATCC), which takes up several rooms on the galley deck (immediately below the flight deck). Like a land-based air traffic control center, the CATCC is filled with all sorts of radio and radar equipment, which the controllers use to keep track of aircraft in the area (in this case, mainly the aircraft outside the Air Boss's supervision).

      The CATCC is next to the combat direction center (CDC), the ship's battle command center. The CDC's primary responsibility is to process incoming information on enemy threats in order to keep the commanding officer fully informed.

      An air traffic controller onboard the USS Kitty Hawk
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      An air traffic controller onboard the USS Kitty Hawk

      An antisubmarine warfare specialist on the USS Carl Vinson
      Photo courtesy U.S Department of Defense
      An antisubmarine warfare specialist on the USS Carl Vinson monitors activities in the Persian Gulf.

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Air Craft Carrier


An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a sea-going airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power great distances without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations. They have evolved from wooden vessels used to deploy a balloon into nuclear powered warships that carry dozens of fixed and rotary wing aircraft.
Balloon carriers were the first ships to deploy manned aircraft, used during the 19th and early 20th century, mainly for observation purposes. The 1903 advent of fixed wing airplanes was followed in 1910 by the first flight of such an aircraft from the deck of a US Navy cruiser. Seaplanes and seaplane tender support ships, such as HMS Engadine, followed. The development of flat top vessels produced the first large fleet ships. This evolution was well underway by the mid 1920s, resulting in ships such as the HMS Hermes, Hōshō, and the Lexington class aircraft carriers.
World War II saw the first large scale use and further refinement of the aircraft carrier, spawning several types. Escort aircraft carriers, such as USS Barnes, were built only during World War II. Although some were purpose built, most were converted from merchant ships, and were a stop-gap measure in order to provide air support for convoys and amphibious invasions. Light aircraft carriers, such as USS Independence represented a larger, more "militarized" version of the escort carrier concept. Although the light carriers usually carried the same size air groups as escort carriers, they had the advantage of higher speed as they had been converted from cruisers under construction rather than civilian merchant ships.
Wartime emergencies also saw the creation or conversion of other, unconventional aircraft carriers. CAM ships, like the SS Michael E, were cargo carrying merchant ships which could launch but not retrieve fighter aircraft from a catapult. These vessels were an emergency measure during World War II as were Merchant aircraft carriers (MACs), such as Mv Empire MacAlpine, another emergency measure which saw cargo-carrying merchant ships equipped with flight decks. Battlecarriers were created by the Imperial JapaneseNavy to partially compensate for the loss of carrier strength at Midway.
Two of them were made from Ise class battleships during late 1943. The aft turrets were removed and replaced with a hangar, deck and catapult. The heavy cruiser Mogami concurrently received a similar conversion. This "half and half" design was an unsuccessful compromise, being neither one thing nor the other. Submarine aircraft carriers, such as the French Surcouf, or the Japaneseclass I-400 submarines, which were capable of carrying 3 Aichi M6A Seiran aircraft, were first built in the 1920s, but were generally unsuccessful at war. Modern navies that operate such ships treat aircraft carriers as the capital ship of the fleet, a role previously played by the battleship. The change, part of the growth of air power as a significant part of warfare, took place during World War II. This change was driven by the superior range, flexibility and effectiveness of carrier-launched aircraft.
Following the war, the scope of carrier operations continued to increase in size and importance. Supercarriers, typically displacing 75,000 tonnes or greater, have become the pinnacle of carrier development. Most are powered by nuclear reactors and form the core of a fleet designed to operate far from home. Amphibious assault ships, such as USS Tarawa or HMS Ocean, serve the purpose of carrying and landing Marines and operate a large contingent of helicopters for that purpose. Also known as "commando carriers" or "helicopter carriers", they have a secondary capability to operate VSTOL aircraft.
Lacking the firepower of other warships, carriers by themselves are considered vulnerable to attack by other ships, aircraft, submarines or missiles and therefore travel as part of a carrier battle group (CVBG) for their protection. Unlike other types of capital ships in the 20th century, aircraft carrier designs since World War II have been effectively unlimited by any consideration save budgetary, and the ships have increased in size to handle the larger aircraft: The large, modern Nimitz class of United States Navy carriers has a displacement nearly four times that of the World War II-era USS Enterprise yet its complement of aircraft is roughly the same, a consequence of the steadily increasing size of military aircraft over the years.

Air Craft Carrier-Architecture

Air Craft Carrier-Architecture

SUB MARINE

A submarine is a watercraft that can operate independently underwater, as distinct from a submersible that has only limited underwater capability. The term submarine most commonly refers to large manned autonomous vessels, however historically or more casually, submarine can also refer to medium sized or smaller vessels, (midget submarines, wet subs), Remotely Operated Vehicles or robots. The word submarine was originally an adjective meaning "under the sea", and so consequently other uses such as "submarine engineering" or "submarine cable" may not actually refer to submarines at all. Submarine was shortened from the term "submarine boat".
Submarines are referred to as "boats" for historical reasons because vessels deployed from a ship are referred to as boats. The first submarines were launched in such a manner. The English term U-Boat for a German submarine comes from the German word for submarine, U-Boot, itself an abbreviation for Unterseeboot ("undersea boat").
Although experimental submarines had been built before, submarine design took off during the 19th century. Submarines were first widely used in World War I, and feature in many large navies. Military usage ranges from attacking enemy ships or submarines, aircraft carrier protection, blockade running, ballistic missile submarines as part of a nuclear strike force, reconnaissance and covert insertion of special forces. Civilian uses for submarines include marine science, salvage, exploration and facility inspection/maintenance. Submarines can also be specialised to a function such as search and rescue, or undersea cable repair. Submarines are also used in tourism and for academic research.
Submarines have one of the largest ranges in capabilities of any vessel, ranging from small autonomous or one- or two-man vessels operating for a few hours, to vessels which can remain submerged for 6 months such as the Russian Typhoon class. Submarines can work at greater depths than are survivable or practical for human divers. Modern deep diving submarines are derived from the bathyscaphe, which in turn was an evolution of the diving bell.
Most large submarines comprise a cylindrical body with conical ends and a vertical structure, usually located amidships, which houses communications and sensing devices as well as periscopes. In modern submarines this structure is the "sail" in American usage ("fin" in European usage). A "conning tower" was a feature of earlier designs: a separate pressure hull above the main body of the boat that allowed the use of shorter periscopes. There is a propeller (or pump jet) at the rear and various hydrodynamic control fins as well as ballast tanks. Smaller, deep diving and specialty submarines may deviate significantly from this traditional layout.

SUB MARINE

SUB MARINE

SUB MARINE1

SUB MARINE1

SUB MARINE II

SUB MARINE II

Sailing Ships

Sailing ship is now used to refer to any large, wind-powered, vessel. In technical terms, a ship was a sailing vessel with a specific rig of at least three masts, square rigged on all of them, making the sailing adjective redundant. In popular usage ship became associated with all large sailing vessels and when steam power came along the adjective became necessary.
specification:
There are many different types of sailing ship, but they all have certain basic things in common. Every sailing ship has a hull, rigging and at least one mast to hold up the sails that use the wind to power the ship. The crew who sail a ship are called sailors or hands. They take turns to take the watch, the active managers of the ship and her performance for a period.
Watches are traditionally four hours long. Some sailing ships use traditional ship's bells to tell the time and regulate the watch system, with the bell being rung once for every half hour into the watch and rung eight times at watch end (a four-hour watch).
Ocean journeys by sailing ship can take many months, and a common hazard is becoming becalmed because of lack of wind, or being blown off course by severe storms or winds that do not allow progress in the desired direction. A severe storm could lead to shipwreck, and the loss of all hands.
Sailing ships can only carry a certain quantity of supplies in their hold, so they have to plan long voyages carefully to include many stops to take on provisions and, in the days before watermakers, fresh water.

SAILING SHIPS

SAILING SHIPS

Sailing Ships

Sailing Ships

FRIGATE CLASS SHIPS



Basically a frigate [frĭg'-ĭt] is a warship. The term has been used for warships of many sizes and roles over the past few centuries.
In the 18th century, the term referred to ships which were as long as a ship-of-the-line and were square-rigged on all three masts (full rigged), but were faster and with lighter armament, used for patrolling and escort. In the 19th century, the armoured frigate was a type of ironclad warship and for a time was the most powerful type of vessel afloat.
In modern navies, frigates are used to protect other warships and merchant-marine ships, especially as anti-submarine warfare(ASW) combatants for amphibious expeditionary forces, underway replenishment groups, and merchant convoys. But ship classes dubbed "frigates" have also more closely resembled corvettes, destroyers, cruisers and even battleships.

INS GOTHAVARI

INS GOTHAVARI

INS GOTHAVARI

TYPE 16 GODAVARI CLASS:

Vessel Type:
Guided Missile Frigate.
Names & Pennant Numbers with commission dates:
Godavari F20 (10 December 1983) INS Ganga F22 (30 December 1985)INS Gomati F21(16 April 1988)
Structure:
The Type 16 Class frigates are a modification of the original Leander Class design with an indigenous content of 72% and a larger hull.
Displacement:
3600 tons standard.............3850 tons full load.
Dimensions:
Length - 126.4 metres.................Beam - 14.5 metres.................Draught - 4.5 metres.
Main Machinery:
Two turbines with 30,000 hp motors, two 550 psi boilers and two shafts.
Maximum Speed: 27 knots.
Maximum Range: 4500 miles at 12 knots.
Complement:
313 (incl. 40 Officers & 13 Aircrew).
Radar:
Air; One Signaal radar at D-band frequency (range - 145n miles; 264 km).........Air/Surface; One MR-310U Angara (NATO: Head Net-C) radar at E-band frequency (range - 70n miles; 128 km)..........Navigation/Helo Ctrl; Two Signaal ZW06 or Don Kay radars at I-band frequency..........Fire Control; Refer to 'Weapons' sub-section.
Sonar: The Bharat APSOH; hull mounted and provides active panoramic search & attack with medium frequency. The vessels also have a Fathoms Oceanic VDS (Variable Depth Sonar) and Type 162M sonar, which provides bottom classification with high frequency. INS Ganga has a Thomson Sintra DSBV 62; passive towed array sonar with very low frequency.
Weapons:
Four P-20M (SS-N-2D Styx) AShMs, fitted in single-tube launchers, with active radar (Mod 1) or infra-red (Mod 2) homing to 45n miles; 83 km at 0.9 Mach. Becomes a sea skimmer at the end of run. Has a 513 kg warhead.
INS Ganga and INS Gomati have been refitted with the Israeli Barak SAM system, with fire control provided by an EL/M-2221 STG radar.
The latter vessel was first sighted with the Barak in December 2002 and the system was reportedly operational by March 2003. It is probable that INS Godavari also has the Barak system, but that is yet to be confirmed through official channels. Prior to the fitment of the Barak system, these vessels had a single vertical launcher with the OSA-M (SA-N-4) SAM with SAR homing to 8n miles; 15 km at Mach 2.5, with a service ceiling of 3048 meters and a 50 kg warhead. A total of 20 OSA-M missiles were carried on board and they had a limited SSM capability. Fire control was provided by a single MPZ-310 (NATO: Pop Group) radar at F/H/I-band frequency, which has since been removed from the vessels that feature the Barak system.
Two 57mm (twin) guns at 90º elevation, 120 rds/min to 4.4n miles; 8 km, for use against ship- and shore-based targets. Fire control is provided by a single MR-103 (NATO: Muff Cob) radar at G/H-band frequency. In the CIWS role, the vessels are fitted with four AK-230 30mm gunmounts with 85º elevation and 500 rounds/min to 2.7n miles; 5 km with fire control provided by two MR-123 (NATO: Drum Tilt) radars at H/I-band frequency.
Features six 324mm ILAS 3 (2 triple) torpedo tubes, which fire the Whitehead A244S anti-submarine torpedo which has active/passive homing to 3.8n miles; 7 km at 33 knots with a 34 kg shaped charged warhead. INS Godavari has tube modifications for the Indian NST 58 version of A244S.
Weapons Control:
MR 301 MFCS and MR 103 GFCS.
Combat Data System: Selenia IPN-10 action data automation and a Immarsat communications (JRC) system.
Helicopters:
Two Sea King Mk.42B or a combination of one Sea King Mk.42B and one HAL Chetak. Usually one helicopter is carried with more than one air crew. French Samahé helicopter landing equipment is fitted. The Naval ALH can also be embarked.
Countermeasures:
Selenia INS-3 (Bharat Ajanta and Elettronica TQN-2) intercept and jammer is used for ESM/ECM purposes. Two chaff/flares are used as decoys. Will have the 'Super Barricade' decoys in due course. Also has a Graesby G738 towed torpedo decoy.