Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military From: jwm@aplvax.jhuapl.edu (Jim Meritt) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: USN CVs wont fit in Arabian Gulf? Message-ID: <1990Aug14.033729.8755@cbnews.att.com> Date: 14 Aug 90 03:37:29 GMT Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Organization: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Lines: 56 Approved: military@att.att.com From: jwm@aplvax.jhuapl.edu (Jim Meritt) I was on the commissioning crew of the LHA-2 (USS Saipan) and spent a few years in their wardroom. From: William Ricker }Our current carriers all weigh in at 64kton-93kton, with all but the }built-for-wwII Midway class being 78kton & up. Other nations (UK, }USSR, France) all have lighter carriers. Our only low displacement }"carriers" are the Marines' TARAWA class LHA assault ships, at }39kton. I wondered why they weren't a good ship for this duty -- }are the Harriers unsuited to air superiority? or too few? or was }this part of the alleged discrimination against admitting that the }Tarawa's flight deck was a carrier? Perhaps it has a draft problem, }since it has a floodable well-deck below. The jump jets have AWFUL stay time after burning up their fuel on a verticle/short take off. Good for close-in air support of the landing force - bad for CAP. }This suggests the Tarawa class are either (a) much boxier below }water-line than real carriers, due to their well-deck, or are deeper }than other carriers of their displacement. LHAs are REAL boxy - both above and below the waterline. }Or would smaller carriers have the same problems turning into the }wind in a narrow body of water with oil platforms & islands? This is sorta the problem. Pilots like to have a good wind across the deck, have it fairly steady, and have it for an extended interval. I don't see getting there as being a carrier problem (I mean, tankers make it!) but I see conducting air ops as being a problem. }Is the flightdeck of the Tarawa capable of handling regular Navy }aviation, or only the Marine jump-jets & choppers it routinely }carrys? Jump jets and chopters, although we have managed to land one of those light recon aircraft. If you look at a picture, you'll see a white line going down the port side - that would be the centerline of a SMALL plane such that the wings would clear the island. Problem with the other guys is no arresting cable and no catapult! (BTW: I was part of the bridge watch during the AV-8B sea trials. Noisey sucker!!!) -- That that is is that that is. That that is not is that that is not. That that is is not that that is not. That that is not is not that that is. And that includes these opinions, which are solely mine! jwm@aplvax.jhuapl.edu - or - jwm@aplvax.uucp - or - meritt%aplvm.BITNET