Aircraft Carriers: USS Gerald Ford

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Pelican
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Aircraft Carriers: USS Gerald Ford

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'Hit & Miss'
"The U.S. Navy’s new supercarrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford has had more than its share of problems. The ship has a reported 23 new or modified technologies, a number of which have been problematic, to be kind. They are still working the bugs out of the electromagnetic catapults. The ammunition elevators are not working properly. The propulsion plant has issues. And the list goes on.

One of the complaints has been about the urinals. It is not that they do not work. Rather, there aren’t any. The Navy says that this was intentional. As they say in the software business, this is a feature, not a bug. The accommodation blocks have been redesigned to more easily suit both male and female crews. Rather than designate male and female accommodation spaces, with and without urinals, the Navy decided to provide only water closets, making the toilets gender-neutral.

While the flexibility of not having to reconfigure the toilets has its advantages, it also has costs. Urinals take up less space than toilets and are easier to keep clean. “[A toilet is] by far a less clean environment than a urinal. By far,” Chuck Kaufman, president of the Public Restroom Company, told the Navy Times, citing the fact that men tend to miss normal toilets more often than they miss urinals.

“What is a problem is [with a water closet] you have a very big target and we can’t aim very quickly,” he added, noting that the only way to ensure men didn’t miss was to make them sit down. Furthermore, Kaufman explained, toilets take over twice the space of urinals. The Navy Times noted that about 18 percent of the Navy’s personnel are women.

While some may be annoyed by the lack of urinals by all reports at least the toilets are functioning. This was not the case when USS George H W Bush, the tenth of the Nimitz class carriers was delivered in 2011. The carrier suffered from widespread plumbing failures, which, at times, rendered the entire ship without a single working head for its crew of 3,200, with an additional 2,400 serving in the air wing. By comparison, a lack of urinals doesn’t seem so bad."
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HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
designeraccd
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Re: Aircraft Carriers: USS Gerald Ford

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This 13+ BILLYUN$ wonderwagon is, seemingly, another of the U$Ns' boondoogles. Each becomes MORE expen$ive. President Trump has again complained @ the "hi-tech", not so functioning gear....now to be installed in JFK, too...... Will this generation of Admirals ever learn??? :(

The last pic shows a nice 2 view of this huge carrier with its relatively small island positioned (110' ?) further aft than the BUSH..........DFO
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ivorthediver
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Re: Aircraft Carriers: USS Gerald Ford

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Well Dennis .........I knew you would respond to Davids post quickly , and may I say how pleased I am that you did not think that us Brits were taking the P... out of your leap in technology .....at the expense of providing the basics ......in your new Carrier ;)

Full marks for "controlled" aggression......... as befits your Military training 8-)
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
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Pelican
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Re: Aircraft Carriers: USS Gerald Ford

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Hit & Miss.
May I just add that the piece I quoted was by a well respected american naval architect.
He always praises or criticies without fear or favour.
I do not follow the USN closely but a simple basic item like heads did catch my eye.
However, she is first of class - https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/cvn-21/ - and teething problems must be expected.
It will be interesting to compare how well the Ford and Queen Elizabeth have met their designed capabilities 5 yrs after they were commissioned.

P.S. Upon reflection perhaps I should have headed this thread USS GERALD FORD CLASS maybe the good Jim can amend it?
HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
designeraccd
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Re: Aircraft Carriers: USS Gerald Ford

Unread post by designeraccd »

Given the obscene co$t of FORD, first of class or not, it would be rather "nice" if she worked as advertised. Silly me....at least the Germans had enough $en$e to refuse acceptance of a non functioning new FFG. :o DFO

Picture from Chris Cavas blog.......
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ivorthediver
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Re: Aircraft Carriers: USS Gerald Ford

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Yes It makes you wonder Dennis .
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
designeraccd
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Re: Aircraft Carriers: USS Gerald Ford

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and now........


"USS Gerald R. Ford receives first functional weapons elevator
Chief Machinist's Mate Franklin Pollydore, second from left, from Georgetown, Guyana, goes over safety procedures for the Upper Stage 1 advanced weapons elevator with Sailors from USS Gerald R. Ford's (CVN 78) weapons department. Photo: US Navy
When the US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier entered service in July 2017, it did so without any functional elevators. The navy has now announced that the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) received its first advanced weapons elevator (AWE) at the end of 2018.

AWE Upper Stage #1 was turned over to the ship on December 21, following testing and certification by engineers at Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding, where the ship is currently working through its post-shakedown availability (PSA).

The navy hailed hailed the event as a major milestone for the ship and the Ford-class of aircraft carriers to follow. I may PUKE........

Though the first elevator has been accepted, work still remains on the remaining 10. Currently, all shipboard installation and testing activities of the AWEs are due to be completed prior to the end of Ford’s PSA, scheduled for July. However, some remaining certification documentation will be performed for five of the 11 elevators after PSA completion.

USS Gerald R. Ford is the first Ford-class aircraft carrier and is the first new carrier design in over 40 years. Unlike Nimitz-class carrier elevators that utilize cables for movement, the Ford class elevators are commanded via electromagnetic, linear synchronous motors allowing for greater capacities and a faster movement of weapons. yea...IF they would only function.

The new design will allow the ship to be able to move up to 24,000 pounds of ordnance at 150 feet-per-minute. This is in contrast to the 10,500 pounds at up to 100 feet-per-minute on a Nimitz-class carrier.

“This will allow us to load more aircraft faster, and in the long run, increase our overall sortie generation rates,” said Lt. Cmdr. Chabonnie Alexander, Ford’s ordnance handling officer.

But aside from the advantages of the new AWE, the new ship design also offered a chance to streamline the overall movement and assembly of weapons to allow for even greater efficiencies. Ford features three upper stage elevators that move ordnance between the main deck and flight deck, and seven lower stage elevators that move ordnance between the main deck and the lower levels of the ship.

Ford also features a dedicated weapons handling area between the hangar bay and the flight deck, on the 02 level, that eliminates several horizontal and vertical movements to various staging and build-up locations. This ultimately offers a 75% reduction in distance traveled from magazine to aircraft.

An additional benefit of the ship’s design is a separate utility elevator that can serve as a dedicated elevator to move both ordnance and supplies, and also serve as a means to medically evacuate (MEDEVAC) injured personnel from the flight deck to the hangar bay. This allows the 10 main AWEs and Ford’s three aircraft elevators to be dedicated to their primary missions of ordnance and aircraft movement during real-world operations.

To keep up with the new technologies and radical changes that the AWEs offer, Ford Sailors recently completed newly developed familiarization, operations and maintenance training in Newport News to become better educated on how to work with and maintain the elevators. The crew is now conducting hands-on training where they will validate technical manuals and maintenance requirements cards against the elevator’s actual operation. Their feedback and observations will ultimately inform future sailors how to properly and safely operate the elevators.

Words simply fail me. :x .....DFO
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jbryce1437
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Re: Aircraft Carriers: USS Gerald Ford

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I can appreciate your concerns Dennis. Surely the lifts have been tested somewhere and some sort of training could have been given there, unless they are "hoping" the CAD version works as anticipated, and if it doesn't .............. Back to the drawing board ;)

Jim
HMS Raleigh 1963 , HMS Collingwood 1963 & 67 , HMS Ark Royal 1964-7, HMS Undaunted 1968-71, HMS Victory (Fleet Maintenance Group) 1971-72, HMS Exmouth 1972-74
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Then 28 years in the Fire Brigade
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designeraccd
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Re: Aircraft Carriers: USS Gerald Ford

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It seems stupidity has ruled with this 13 BILLION and climbing..."carrier". Hey, I've got nothing better to wa$te my tax $$$ on, well....maybe the PO$ LC$s........... :x DFO
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ivorthediver
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Re: Aircraft Carriers: USS Gerald Ford

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Without wishing to "Crow" off about limitations and Draw backs of CAD designed ships ;) that we have brought to your notice on other threads on this Forum....... but here lays........ yet another........ of many cock ups unsuccessfully brought into service that ............." .." Don't do what it says on the Can ".... to use a popular phrase from across the pond ;) but its comforting to discover that its not just a UK issue and so far the finger of guilt point's to BAE , the Spanish ,the Italians and the far east as well as you fellow countryman Dennis , which I imagine is really upsetting given your background
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
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