USS Independance at St. Petersburg Pier this Weekend

[Bucit]

I have never been aboard a Navy ship and was lucky enough to get tickets to view this boat. It was amazing, 419 feet long and will run 40 knots in 4 foot seas (at least that is what they tel you) but I bet it's even faster. Only $440 million to build. No props, it runs off of water propulsion just like a jet ski. Two diesels and two gas turbine engines. They state their is only 40 crew members on this boat at all times. The boat itself will run in as little as 14 feet of water.

 

[Bucit]

True but they probably have redundancy upon redundancy. It is the military and spending our money is not a concern. I drank out of the water fountain a few times and that water probably cost us tax payers a couple hundred.

 

[Zorba]

True but they probably have redundancy upon redundancy. It is the military and spending our money is not a concern. I drank out of the water fountain a few times and that water probably cost us tax payers a couple hundred.

What do you think there water tank capacity is? 50 gallons? Hope they put a capfull of bleach in after they dewinterized it so the water tasted fresh.

 

[Scottzzzy]

Wow that thing is beautiful! I dont think anything relects American pride better than the military and the people who serve.

I think I read something a year ago about them having problems with the metals in the drives and the hulls reacting and deteriorating. It was an expensive fix on these ships!

 

[Bucit]

The hull is completely aluminum and I heard one of the officers talking about dissimilar metals but didn't hear if he was talking about them having problems or what they did to fix the problem. It ws a lot to take in that's for sure. The machine gun on the bow shot 250 rounds per minute and I belive they said each round was $3500. That would be $875,000 per minute with a range of 10 miles.

 

[Bugsy24]

Bucit, we ate lunch at the Whitfield Airport yesterday and Drove past Her!!
Scott all Navy Ships have an "After Steering" control in case the Bridge gets damaged!!