USS Detroit Keel Laying
Last week the keel laying ceremony for the USS Detroit took place in Marinette Wisconsin. The USS Detroit is the fourth Littoral Combat Ship built by Marinette Marine. The U.S. Navy expects to take delivery of the ship in 2015.
As a native of the Metro Detroit region I am proud to have the name of the city attached to a brand new warship. That said, I am a bit apprehensive about the Detroit. The LCS class of warships have come under a healthy dose of criticism; particularly in regards to their questionable survivability and hitting power versus their steep costs.
Detroit has given its name to a number of warships over the years so let's take a look at the "tale of the tape" and compare the current generation Detroit (via its closest sister - the USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) - who recently completed its acceptance trials on Lake Michigan) to its famous WWII era predecessor; the Omaha class light cruiser USS Detroit (CL-8).
First the WWII era USS Detroit:
| Displacement: | 7,050 long tons (7,160 metric tons) |
| Length: | 555 ft 6 in (169.32 m) |
| Beam: | 55 ft 4 in (16.87 m) |
| Draft: | 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m) |
| Speed: | 34 knots (39 mph; 63 km/h) |
| Complement: | 458 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | 10 × 6 in (150 mm)/53 cal guns, 6 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal guns, 6 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes |
| Aircraft carried: | 2 × floatplanes |
And now today's USS Detroit (again stats for sister ship USS Fort Worth):
| Displacement: | 2862 tons (full load) |
| Length: | 378.3 ft (115.3 m) |
| Beam: | 57.4 ft (17.5 m) |
| Draft: | 13.0 ft (3.7 m) |
| Speed: | 45 knots (52 mph; 83 km/h) |
| Boats carried: | 11 m RHIB, 40 ft (12 m) high-speed boats |
| Complement: | 15 to 50 core crew, 75 mission crew |
| Armament | Mk 110 57mm gun, RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missles, MK 50 Torpedo, NETFIRES PAM missle in the ASuW module, 2 .50 cal HMG |
| Aircraft carried | 2 MH-60R/S Seahawk Helicopters, MQ-8 Fire Scout |
Different ships, different eras, different missions, and vastly different technology; yet there is something comforting about the old Detroit's size and sturdiness.
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