US Navy Littorals are cracking.

[Co-gnARR]

Our Naval shipbuilding is an unmitigated disaster. Our Navy is a shambles, a shadow of its former self.

To your point, I had the privilege of serving the Navy on the worst yet most underreported f*ck up in US submarine history. That the keel of my ship was laid late ‘70’s is a large part of why I am alive & well LLC now posting this from deep within the shoreline, and not a skeletonized fossil deep within Davy Jones’ locker. Flash forward from 1/08/2005 to middle 2006 when I was stationed walking distance from the same shipyard that was the grand daddy of all submarine building shipyards and I’ll say this- the pride of world class ship building talent was gone withun a generation. Without getting into a deep dive rant of modern politics, globalization, Clinton-era NWO restructuring of US military dominance, et al, it boils down to this: the skilled tradesmen who built the finest examples naval supremacy are dead and gone, without any real transfer of knowledge or skillsets to the future generations.

[Diamondback]

To your point, I had the privilege of serving the Navy on the worst yet most underreported f*ck up in US submarine history. That the keel of my ship was laid late ‘70’s is a large part of why I am alive & well LLC now posting this from deep within the shoreline, and not a skeletonized fossil deep within Davy Jones’ locker. Flash forward from 1/08/2005 to middle 2006 when I was stationed walking distance from the same shipyard that was the grand daddy of all submarine building shipyards and I’ll say this- the pride of world class ship building talent was gone withun a generation. Without getting into a deep dive rant of modern politics, globalization, Clinton-era NWO restructuring of US military dominance, et al, it boils down to this: the skilled tradesmen who built the finest examples naval supremacy are dead and gone, without any real transfer of knowledge or skillsets to the future generations.

And this goes to why warship building programs were frequently "low and slow," the only way to preserve the skills to be available for future need was to keep them slowly but steadily cranking out ships so we'd have a competent "core cadre" to crash-train the FNG's in a War Emergency scenario.

[sndt1319]

The difference in caliber vs the diameter of the round really clarifies some of this. I didn’t realize the Navy guns had that big a range advantage.

[Diamondback]

The difference in caliber vs the diameter of the round really clarifies so if this.

The difference is "length in calibers." The pipe is the same bore, just half again the length of bore between those two examples. Admittedly AGS never went into deployment, I just chose it as "most direct comparison."

A naval gun is defined in two measures, the caliber (diameter of bore) and length measured in calibers (how many bore-diameters long). For example, the vaunted 16"/50 of the Iowas is 16" caliber, 50 calibers long for a barrel length of 800". (66'8") Traversing and elevating a gun like that requires more oomph than any land-mobile system short of a railway gun can deliver.

[chuckman]

To your point, I had the privilege of serving the Navy on the worst yet most underreported f*ck up in US submarine history. That the keel of my ship was laid late ‘70’s is a large part of why I am alive & well LLC now posting this from deep within the shoreline, and not a skeletonized fossil deep within Davy Jones’ locker. Flash forward from 1/08/2005 to middle 2006 when I was stationed walking distance from the same shipyard that was the grand daddy of all submarine building shipyards and I’ll say this- the pride of world class ship building talent was gone withun a generation. Without getting into a deep dive rant of modern politics, globalization, Clinton-era NWO restructuring of US military dominance, et al, it boils down to this: the skilled tradesmen who built the finest examples naval supremacy are dead and gone, without any real transfer of knowledge or skillsets to the future generations.

We were never going to have a 600 ship Navy that Reagan proposed, but it's realistic to have 300, 325. I imagine we'd be hard pressed to how sea-going capability for 270 now; few of them warships, most being auxiliaries, etc. Trump got funding for new ships and I have no idea what happened to that.

[SomeOtherGuy]

Hey look, the newest LCS is about to be commissioned!

https://www.mlive.com/news/2022/05/u...issioning.html

And it will serve "for decades"!!!

Who wants to bet it's mothballed before Biden's out of office?

[Diamondback]

Hey look, the newest LCS is about to be commissioned!

https://www.mlive.com/news/2022/05/u...issioning.html

And it will serve "for decades"!!!

Who wants to bet it's mothballed before Biden's out of office?

Also, don't forget that the "mission modules" they tout so highly were the first thing thrown overboard...

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Sell them to Switzerland or Austria…

[jsbhike]

I just yesterday watched a 2008 documentary called Factory City.... about a factory in China that has over 17,000 employees. Bright, modern, extremely efficient with an absolute demand for quality. The emloyees live there, work there, have families there, and are 100% devoted to their job.
Having now worked in 7 factories alone, for well over 40 years...I can tell you with absolute certainty we cant come ANYWHERE near that level of production/efficiency or loyalty.
Its free to watch..utterly fascinating, and totally changed my mind on how they work in China.
I still go way out of my way & will pay more NOT to buy China made stuff when possible...but Ive yet to see USA made computers, phones, ect.
And its a cold hard fact what markm said...a LOT of USA made products are poor quality crap. Ive lived long enough to remember when it wasnt that way at all. Damn shame.
Personally- I blame WALMART for getting that Made in China ball rolling before Sam was even cold in the ground. Then, everyone else had to follow to stay competitive.

What does the "loyalty" part involve?

[Diamondback]

What does the "loyalty" part involve?

Unsure about China, but Japan has fostered that loyalty across multigenerational company families, by treating their employees AS family. Even the bottom-level guys, the company pays to fly them to Hawaii or LA or Orlando and drive them around in limos, they pay for the kids to attend good schools...

As for Walmart, John Walton tried to stick to Sam's vision but as soon as he died in that plane crash the rest of the family sold out. Neither Sam nor John would have ever stood for Killary being on the Board of Directors...