Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
Feature - SS Canberra
MSW Crewmember Katseas Kostas (angeleyes) figured we all needed a vacation so he brought the SS Canberra into dock for us.
Feature
USS Monitor Ironclad
Today’s website is the USS Monitor Ironclad. The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is managed by the National Marine Sanctuary Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In 1987, it was declared a National Historic Landmark, the first shipwreck to receive this distinction. Enjoy.
Website
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1953 - Korean War armistice signed at Panmunjon, Korea and Korean cease-fire went into effect at 10:00 PM.
US Navy warns of increased pirate activity
Source: Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The U.S. Navy is warning of increased pirate activity off the coast of Somalia due to the advent of weather more favorable to the sea-borne criminals.
The Navy says high seas in the Gulf of Aden had resulted in fewer attacks in recent weeks.
With the monsoon season ending in four to six weeks pirate activity is expected to increase, the Navy said in a statement Monday.
The Navy advised mariners to use a designated corridor when transiting the Gulf of Aden. The corridor is patrolled by 30 warships, supported by aircraft from 16 nations.
Somali pirates carried out hundreds of attacks this year. They currently hold around a dozen ships awaiting ransom payments.
Keel to Be Laid for Third Littoral Combat Ship
Source: US Navy
WASHINGTON --- The keel for the future littoral combat ship, USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), will be laid July 11 during a ceremony at Marinette Marine Shipyard in Marinette, Wisc.
Keel-laying has traditionally been the first step in ship construction, when shipbuilders laid down the lengthwise timber that would become the ship's backbone.
During the scheduled event, a shipyard welder will attach the future ship's plaque to the keel, and U.S. Rep. Kay Granger will confirm that the keel was laid "straight and true."
"Starting construction on the third ship is an exciting milestone to reach," said Capt. Jim Murdoch, LCS program manager within the Navy's Program Executive Office, Ships.
"Reaching the Navy's goal of a 55-ship class depends on getting LCS into serial production, which will lead to high quality ships being delivered to the fleet on cost and on schedule."
LCS is a new breed of U.S. Navy warship, capable of open-ocean operation but optimized for littoral or coastal missions. Operational experience and analyses indicate that potential adversaries will employ asymmetric means to deny U.S. and allied forces access into critical coastal regions, such as strategic chokepoints and vital economic sea lanes. LCS is specifically designed to defeat such "anti-access" threats, which include fast surface craft, quiet diesel submarines and various types of mines.
Fort Worth is expected to be delivered to the Navy in 2012, when she will join sister ships USS Freedom (LCS 1) and USS Independence (LCS 2). Freedom was commissioned by the Navy in November 2008. Independence is currently undergoing builder's sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico and is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy later this year. A contract was awarded to General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works in May for the construction of LCS 4, the future USS Coronado.
The future USS Fort Worth, named in honor of the Texas city, will be 378 feet in length, have a waterline beam of 57 feet, displace approximately 3,000 tons and will make speed in excess of 40 knots.
PEO Ships is responsible for the development and acquisition of U.S. Navy surface ships and is currently managing the design and construction of a wide range of ship classes and small boats and craft. These platforms range from major warships such as frontline surface combatants and amphibious assault ships to air-cushioned landing craft, oceanographic research ships and special warfare craft. PEO Ships has delivered 31 major warships and hundreds of small boats and craft from more than 30 shipyards and boat builders across the United States.
NAVAIR Fuels Team Plans Super Hornet Biofuels Flight Test
Source: Navair
The NAVAIR fuels team is gearing up for biofuels flight tests in an F/A-18 Super Hornet at Patuxent River, Md., by next spring or summer, according to NAVAIR’s Rick Kamin, Navy fuels lead.
Before “biofueling” the plane, the team will first conduct laboratory and rig tests at Pax River, followed by static engine tests with the Super Hornet’s F414 engine on a test stand at the Lynn, Mass., facility of manufacturer General Electric. The static tests will take place “probably in the December-January timeframe,” Kamin said.
The NAVAIR fuels team is also getting ready to kick off a similar effort to test and certify biofuels for use on ships.
The upcoming tests are part of a larger effort to test and certify promising biofuels in support of the Navy’s energy strategy to enhance energy security and environmental stewardship, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“Our major goal is a drop-in replacement” for the Navy’s petroleum-based fuels, Kamin said. “The field won’t know the difference.”
Fuels derived from plants are considered carbon neutral. Burning them doesn’t increase the net amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because the carbon they contain was originally absorbed from the air as the plants grew.
NAVAIR has asked for 40,000 gallons of JP-5 jet fuel from bio-based feedstocks in a request for proposal (RFP) issued by the Defense Energy Support Center. Initial laboratory analyses and rig testing will consume 1,500 gallons; the static engine tests, 16,500 gallons; and the flight tests, 22,000 gallons. The feedstocks targeted are not used for food to avoid the kind of market competition that drove up corn prices when the government subsidized corn-derived ethanol.
Kamin said fuels received from the JP-5 RFP may include those made from oils produced by plants such as camelina, jatropha and algae. “We won’t know for sure what we’re going to get until the procurement process is completed,” he said. The contract signing is expected to take place this August.
Camelina, also known as gold-of-pleasure or false flax, is in the same family as rapeseed, the source of canola oil. Often considered a weed, camelina is cultivated today for the high quality oil its seeds produce, both for human consumption and conversion to biodiesel.
Jatropha is a tough woody plant that can grow in arid conditions unsuitable for most food crops. Its seeds produce oil that’s unfit for human consumption but can be converted to fuel.
Algae can be grown in vats or ponds under controlled conditions that maximize output and harvesting efficiency. Algae’s oil is produced within individual cells.
Oils harvested from the plants are refined into fuel with conventional petroleum refinery processes.
Two commercial biofuels that will not be tested are ethanol, now blended with gasoline, and biodiesel. Ethanol is unsafe for shipboard use because it ignites too easily, and its lower energy content would significantly reduce aircraft range.
The biodiesel sold commercially today consists of oxygen-containing compounds called esters. Although they burn well, esters absorb water too readily to be suitable for the Navy’s maritime environment.
For the upcoming static and flight tests, the biofuels will be mixed in a 50-50 blend with conventional petroleum-derived jet fuel to provide the necessary specification properties. Biofuels are not as dense as conventional jet fuel, have less lubricating ability and contain no aromatic compounds, a group of chemical compounds able to penetrate the rubberlike materials that make up gaskets and seals.
“Aromatics are critical for seal swelling,” Kamin noted. “The easiest way to get these properties back in is with a blend with petroleum-based fuels.”
Kamin emphasized that the Navy will not be producing any biofuels itself. “We’re strictly a user, a consumer,” he said. “The Navy doesn’t even procure its own fuel.” Fuel for all military services is purchased by the Defense Energy Support Center, he said. “We’re responsible for fuel specification requirements. Our main responsibility is to test and certify the alternative fuels for inclusion in our specifications.”
The fuels team will initially apply three categories of standard tests to the fuels received in response to the RFP: analytical chemistry – using instruments such as a mass spectrometer to determine chemical composition and structure, “wet chemistry” – determining the fuels’ response in specific chemical reactions, and rig test properties such as water separability, to determine how the fuels will react in aircraft and in conditions typical of Navy operating conditions, which include long-term storage.
“Storage stability is a unique military and Navy requirement not required in the commercial world,” Kamin noted.
“We’re trying to certify by families, to come up with a spec for an approved class of feedstocks, such as oil shale, petroleum, hydrotreated renewable or coal,” he said. The specifications of each family will be determined initially through the full battery of chemical analysis, physical properties, static engine tests and flight tests. “Hopefully, we’ll do it once, and just look at the chemistry and approve by similarity after that.”
The Navy plans to have test and certification completed on the most promising alternative fuel candidates no later than 2013, Kamin said. As each candidate is approved for use, it will be added to the Navy’s JP-5 (aircraft) and F-76 (ship propulsion fuel) specifications. Once in the specification, the Defense Energy Support Center can buy the fuel to meet Navy requirements from the lowest-cost provider. Actual usage in the fleet will depend on industry production capability.
Photo of the Day
Damage Controlmen and Flight Deck personnel inspect the nozzles on the flight deck aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) during a salt water counter-measure wash-down test.
Gator
