The Navy’s LCS-1 RIMPAC photo album (photos taken from June 17 to July 31 2010) does a really good job of documenting life aboard the Little Sipper Freedom Class. Ahh, the easy routine of life at sea:
RIMPAC 2010 JULY 29
RIMPAC 2010 JULY 20
EN ROUTE-RIMPAC 2010 JUNE 23
EN ROUTE–RIMPAC 2010 JUNE 17
Yeah, yeah, I know the ship has to iron out alongside replenishment issues, but…I suspect Freedom is worthless until it has independence from the refueling rig…and that ain’t gonna ever happen.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I honestly think ya’ll are blowing a lot of smoke. First boats (dont care if its LCS 1 or 2) will always have a lot of issues to iron out. Obviously you guys are associated with their the Navy or LCS 2 and just dont like the idea of these small ships to begin with. Sit back and let the cycle finish and then when that is done we will have either 1 or 2. Chill out and let things move forward and let the best boat win.
Oh, of course the Navy’s PR pics shouldn’t be considered data points. But they are useful in that–of all the things they could have focused on in this neat new platform, the PR folks went with alongside replenishment. Given that the LCS-1s fuel consumption rate is a big elephant in the room, I find that choice of topic to be rather interesting.
Also, I presume we could–if we assume that the PR photos reflect some of the more significant events for the crew–take some back-bearings on just how much of a personnel hit alongside replenishments are upon the small-crewed LCS. What duties ain’t getting done when the LCS gasses up?
So don’t presume this is scientific. It’s just…interesting. Might not mean anything. But…it is, in my mind, an interesting observation.
I believe they conducted so many unreps to train the crews, both on Freedom, and the replenishment ships (RIMPAC is about interaction and training, after all). And as for the frequency, I made two deploymens on a FFG, we refueled and vertreped food every 7 days for 7 months. Like Ken said, not a good slice of data. How many times did they refuel during their transit?
Yeah, yeah it’s not a scientific sample, and yes, other platforms take drinks all the time (A committed Nimitz Class carrier needs fuel every, what, five days?).
But it is interesting that the Navy PR folks chose to highlight this evolution–which just reinforces a key weakness of this short-legged platform. If we’re gonna decouple this platform from the carrier strike group, how do you do that it if the Freedom needs to hang about with oilers that, are, by and large, slaves to the carrier strike group? It’s just not an easy square to circle (unless you’re basically dedicating the LCS to blue water escort of oilers or some darn thing…)
So how often do DDGs and CGs refuel when operating at sea? Is refueling once a week unusual?
I searched the Navy.mil photo gallery and found pictures of the USS Ronald Reagan conducting UNREP four separate times during the same exercise. Freedom appeared five times; her first shot was 3 weeks before Reagan’s, and the last a week after.
I don’t think using such a limited data set is a fair way to make your point.