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after all the stuff with CATZ about bombardement ships, I had a good talk over IRC with TimothyC, about what really would be an good idea for an bombardement ship. I was planning to scratch-draw one, but as my fave time era is 1990-2000 we decided that the best thing would most likely be refitting an spruance. based on the plans for the AGS USS Thorn, I put the gun aft for an extended magazine size.

the idea of this ship would be an shore bombardent ship that could also do (some of the) normal destroyer duty's. while she wouldn't be as capable as the others, she would not be useless when there was no need for bombardement, something that some other concepts I saw would have more problems with.


well, I'd like to know what you guys think of the concept and the ship
keep in mind that I do not think that there is an real gunfire support gap, but IF there was, IN 1995, then this would (IMO) be the best answer. maybe an class based around this, or an follow on would even be an good alternative for the zumwalts.... but that is another story, that I would like not to be discussed here

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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.
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One thing that Ace didn't touch on is that while a refit, she would have had her stern almost totally rebuilt to take the shock and stress from firing the gun. I'm envisioning that 6-9 ships would be refitted to this standard to provide two or three ships either deployed or on standby around the world. Thanks to Erik and Sea Skimmer for reality checks with this project.

Also she's got a 250-300 round capacity, which while lower than her 5" capacity is a welcome addition to any MEU.

Edit: The ships has a reduced VLS load (48 as opposed to 64 cells). This was done to address weight rather than volume concerns. Nominal load out would be 16 TLAMs, 16 VLAs, 8 NSSMs (single packed), and 32 POLAR (quad packed).

Edit 2: You will note that the AN/SPS-40 on the standard Spruance was replaced with the Planar array AN/SPS-49. This improves air search and tracking by virtue of being a 2.5D as opposed to a 2D set, and by being 20 years newer. This did however requires a change to the aft mast (moving the pole forward and the radar aft). This gives the radar a clear view aft, and puts all of the obstructions in one general direction. I considered a deployment of the Advanced Enclosed Mast / Sensor [As seen on DD-968 U.S.S. Arthur W. Radford], but this was not chosen because I couldn't confirm that the currently drawn mast would support and contain the planar AN/SPS-49 (potentially a future upgrade or later versions of the ship will use this).

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The difficulty would be in moving the 8-in to the stern position, as I've read that this would not have been possible on that hull, which is why it was positioned forward.

well, we decided to put it on the stern, based on the AGS modified USS thorn plans. but this is indeed the reason the entire stern would have to be rebuild.

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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

You might want to expand the landing pad aft, it look tight imo. But idk.

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Probably posting from and iPhone and naval terms befuddle it. If I say a ships' hill, you know what I meant.

the landing pad is the standars spruance pad

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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

Yes it would have represented a unique challenge, hence my statement about a serious rebuild effort on the stern.

The reason I placed it on the stern is that fundamentally, this design was based on the proposed AGS Backfit to U.S.S. Thorn. If I placed the Mk-71 forward the ship would probably be down to 32 VLS cells forward, while by placing it aft I only am down to 48, with 8 dedicated to NSSM. Another issue was magazine space - if I place the Mk-71 on the bow, you are for most purposes stuck with the existing 5" Magazine space. By placing it aft, the deck is extended granting the ship a larger magazine.
The Mk-71 does interfere with helo ops to a certain degree, but that's an acceptable downside for the gain of an 8" gun.

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Why Isn't NSSM Quadpacked???

Nick

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Nick

@ashwellkennedy

because it is NSSM, not ESSM NSSM can not be quadpacked, while ESSM can.

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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

I see, Also I have found this after a quick google which could be used in a similar role and is based on MConrads work



EDIT - Hes a tw*t as he says his SB work is copyrighted

Nick

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Nick

@ashwellkennedy