The U.S. Navy keeps 11 Carrier Strike Groups, 12 Expeditionary Strike Groups, and we have 72 submarines, some of which guard the strike groups, but mostly they go about doing their own thing.
The strike groups are guarded by 22 Ticonderoga class cruisers, 59 Arleigh Burke class destroyers and 30 Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates.
Just approved to join the mix of gun bearing ships are twenty new Littoral Combat Ships of two different types.
Let’s take a look at these small, fast, flexible vessels.
First a little history lesson: Naval battles of World War II were fought with battleships armed with eight or nine 14” to 18” guns, cruisers armed with a similar number of 6” to 8” guns, and destroyers with as many as five 5” guns. The cruiser class existed due to a treaty limitation from World War I, and the British Navy built battle cruisers, which had the weapons of the battleship, but the armor of a cruiser. This made them fast and hard hitting, but more vulnerable than the full sized battleship.
A destroyer of that era, a shorthand for “motor torpedo boat destroyer”, packed guns to deal with other destroyers and smaller craft, torpedoes for taking on larger opponents, and depth charges for use against submarines. The ships bristled with anti-aircraft cannons - 20mm Oerlikons and 40mm Bofors - and they’d serve as screening vessels, protecting larger ships from torpedo planes and dive bombers.
Today the U.S. Navy has 22 Ticonderoga class cruisers, typically deployed one each with the strike groups. There are 59 Arleigh Burke class destroyers and the fleet is rounded out with 30 Oliver Hazard Perry Frigates.
USS Port Royale CG-73 Ticonderoga class
The Ticonderoga cruisers bear two 5” guns but their primary weapons are a pair of vertical launch systems. The VLS can dispense Tomahawk cruise missiles, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, anti-submarine missiles, and surface to air missiles. These 9,700 ton vessels carry a crew of 400 and have facilities for two helicopters.
USS Arleigh Burke DDG-53
The Arleigh Burke class destroyers carry a single 5” gun and three quarters as many missiles as the cruisers. They’re nearly as large as the cruisers at 8,200 tons and they have a crew of 300. These ships draw heavily on the lessons learned from the mixed steel/aluminum construction of the Ticonderoga class and they were put back into production after their successor, the Zumwalt class, was canceled. Also canceled in favor of this tested destroyer design was the planned follow on to the Ticonderoga. Some of the later Arleigh Burkes have the same helicopter facilities found on all of the cruisers.
USS Oliver Hazard Perry FFG-7
The Oliver Hazard Perry frigates pack one 3” automatic cannon, their missile systems were decommissioned in 2003, and they remain in an air defense and anti-submarine role. These 4,100 ton vessels carry a crew of 176. About a third of them have been stricken from our inventory and sold to allies, while sixteen others have been built by foreign countries under license.
Recognizing the new challenges of the 21st century, the United States Navy sought a smaller, cheaper, faster vessel to replace the aging Oliver Hazard Perry class and expand dramatically on the possible missions for its successor. They’ve purchased one each of the Freedom class and the Independence class, and last November ten more of each type were approved for construction.
USS Freedom LCS-1
USS Independence LCS-2
The conventional looking Freedom class are 3,000 ton vessels packing a 57mm autocannon and a pair of Bushmaster II 30mm chain guns. Air defense is the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile system. The ship carries two of either the SH-60 Seahawk helicopter or the unammed MQ-8 Firescout.
The slightly lighter Independence class, a 2,800 ton trimaran design, has the same guns and air defense missiles as the Freedom class. The shape of this vessel makes it more stable in high seas and its internal deck, a third the size of a football field, can hold four lanes worth of Stryker or various MRAP vehicles.
Both classes have the ability to support 11 meter NSW RIB of the type used by the Navy SEALS, which enters via a rear door in the ship.
USS Freedom LCS-1 rear door
Our world is changing: economy, energy, and environment are all in flux. Much like the Air Force’s drone fleet in yesterday’s report, the Navy is also seeking ways to be smaller, lighter, faster, and able to place just the right amount of force ... or humanitarian aid ... in precisely the right place.