1.
USS Essex (CV-9)
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USS Essex was an aircraft carrier and the lead ship of the 24-ship Essex class built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name, commissioned in December 1942, Essex participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning the Presidential Unit Citation and 13 battle stars. Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, she was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier, in her second career, she served mainly in the Atlantic, playing a role in the Cuban Missile Crisis. She also participated in the Korean War, earning four battle stars and she was the primary recovery carrier for the Apollo 7 space mission. She was decommissioned for the last time in 1969 and sold for scrap in 1975, Essex was laid down on 28 April 1941 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. After the Pearl Harbor attack her building contract was reworked, after an accelerated construction, she was launched on 31 July 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Artemus L. Gates, the wife of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air. She was commissioned on 31 December 1942 with Captain Donald B. Duncan commanding, following her accelerated builders trials and shakedown cruise, Essex moved to the Pacific by May 1943. Departing from Pearl Harbor, she participated with Task Force 16 in carrier operations against Marcus Island, on 31 August 1943, she was designated the flagship of TF14 and struck Wake Island on 5 to 6 October. On 11 November she took part in operations during the Rabaul strike, alongside USS Bunker Hill. She then launched an attack with Task Group 50.3 against the Gilbert Islands where she took part in her first amphibious assault during the Battle of Tarawa, while refueling at sea, she cruised as flagship of TG50.3 to attack Kwajalein on 4 December. Her second amphibious assault delivered in company with TG58.2 was against the Marshall Islands on 29 January to 2 February 1944. While en route to the Mariana Islands to sever Japanese supply lines and it then continued with the scheduled attack upon Saipan, Tinian, and Guam on 23 February 1944. After this operation, Essex proceeded to San Francisco for her single wartime overhaul, following her overhaul, Essex became the carrier for Air Group 15, the Fabled Fifteen, commanded by the U. S. Navys top ace of the war, David McCampbell. She then joined carriers USS Wasp and USS San Jacinto in TG12.1 to strike Marcus Island on 19 to 20 May 1944, on 2 October, she weathered a typhoon and four days later departed with Task Force 38 for the Ryukyus. She resumed the offensive and delivered attacks on Manila and the northern Philippine Islands during November, on 25 November, for the first time in her far-ranging operations and destruction to the enemy, Essex received damage. A kamikaze hit the edge of her flight deck landing among planes gassed for takeoff, causing extensive damage, killing 15. Following quick repairs, she operated with the force off Leyte supporting the occupation of Mindoro on 14 to 16 December 1944. She rode out Typhoon Cobra and made a search for survivors afterward
2.
Essex-class aircraft carrier
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The Essex class was a class of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy that constituted the 20th centurys most numerous class of capital ships. The class consisted of 24 vessels, which came in both short-hull and long-hull versions, thirty-two ships were originally ordered, however as World War II wound down, six were canceled before construction, and two were canceled after construction had begun. No Essex-class ships were lost to enemy action, despite several vessels sustaining very heavy damage, at the time of the repudiations, both Italy and Japan had colonial ambitions, intending on or already conducting military conquests. A longer, wider deck and a deck-edge elevator facilitated more efficient aviation operations. Machinery arrangement and armor protection was improved from previous designs. These features, plus the provision of more guns, gave the ships much enhanced survivability. Some ships in the class would serve until well after the end of the Vietnam War, debates raged, and continue to this day, regarding the effect of strength deck location. British designers comments tended to disparage the use of deck armor. After the abrogation of disarmament treaties by Japan in 1936, the U. S. took a look at its naval strength. With the Naval Expansion Act of Congress passed on 17 May 1938 and this permitted the building of Hornet, which was the third Yorktown-class CV, and Essex, which was the lead ship of a new class. CV-9 was to be the prototype of the 27, 000-ton aircraft carrier, considerably larger than Enterprise, the Navy ordered the first three of the new design, CV-9, CV-10 and CV-11, from Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock on 3 July 1940. These were to become known as Essex-class carriers, under the terms of the Two-Ocean Navy Act, ten more of these carriers were programmed. After the US declaration of war, Congress appropriated funds for nineteen more Essexes, ten were ordered in August 1942 and three more in June 1943. Only two of these were completed in time to see active World War II service, six ships ordered in 1944 were canceled before construction was begun. The first eight hulls were originally assigned names from historic Navy ships, Lexington was originally laid down as Cabot, but was renamed during construction after the original USS Lexington was lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. Yorktown, originally to be named Bon Homme Richard, was renamed after the original USS Yorktown was lost at the Battle of Midway on 7 June 1942, Lexington and Yorktown share the unique distinction of being named after both historic ships and historic battles. The erstwhile Valley Forge was renamed Princeton after USS Princeton was sunk in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, at the conclusion of the war, the six ships ordered but never laid down were canceled. Of the nine still unfinished six were completed, two were scrapped, and Oriskany was taken in hand for modification to an improved design, in drawing up the preliminary design for Essex, particular attention was directed at the size of both the flight and hangar decks
3.
MS Voyager of the Seas
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MS Voyager of the Seas is the lead ship of the Voyager-class of cruise ships operated by Royal Caribbean International. She measured 137,276 GT at launch with a displacement of 58,000 t, and she is 311 m long overall, has a waterline beam of 47.4 m and a height of 63 m. Voyager of the Seas contains the first rock climbing wall at sea, today the ice is used throughout the cruise as a public ice-skating venue and for professional ice shows. The Royal Promenade is a marble floored street stretching just over 3/4 the length of the ship including shops, all cabins on Voyager of the Seas feature en-suite bathrooms and an interactive television service, and most outward facing cabins on the upper decks feature balconies
4.
Voyager-class cruise ship
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The Voyager class refers to a design of post-Panamax cruise ships owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International cruiselines. The Voyager class ships were built at Kværner Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard and these ships include a 350-foot indoor mall known as the Royal Promenade, featuring indoor pubs, shops, cafes, and bars. Activity options on all five ships include a court, at least 3 pools, a mini-golf course, a rock wall, an ice skating rink and, originally. These same upgrades were added to Adventure of the Seas in 2014, Navigator of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas, and Explorer of the Seas replaced their inline skating tracks with Flowrider surf simulators in 2014 and 2015. Voyager-class ships have a diesel-electric powertrain and they are powered by six Wärtsilä Vasa 46 diesel engines, giving a total output of 75,600 kW. The generated electric power drives three 14 MW ABB Azipod azimuth thrusters, the Voyager class featured some world firsts for cruise ships when it debuted, including the first rock climbing wall and ice-skating rink at sea. Voyager-class ships also feature the Royal Promenade, a marble floored street stretching just over 3/4 the length of the ship featuring shops and light dining venues. The Royal Promenade extends through the decks of the ships, giving most upper level cabins a window. This design was first used in the cruiseferry Silja Serenade in 1990, all cabins on Voyager-class ships feature an en-suite bathrooms and an innovative interactive television service, and most outward facing cabins on the upper decks feature balconies. Navigator of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas make up the generation of Voyager-class vessels. Major differences include a larger Windjammer buffet area, which extends out over the aft of the ship, the second-generation ships also feature glass balconies that extend out from the side of the ship, while the first-generation ships had metal-walled balconies recessed into the superstructure. In addition, the aquarium in the first-generation Schooner Bar was replaced with a piano. These design changes were carried over to the later Freedom class, at 139,570 gross tons, Navigator of the Seas is the eighteenth largest passenger ship at sea as of 2016. Royal Caribbean factsheet on the Voyager class
5.
Ship
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Historically, a ship was a sailing vessel with at least three square-rigged masts and a full bowsprit. Ships are generally distinguished from boats, based on size, shape, Ships have been important contributors to human migration and commerce. They have supported the spread of colonization and the trade, but have also served scientific, cultural. After the 16th century, new crops that had come from, Ship transport is responsible for the largest portion of world commerce. As of 2016, there were more than 49,000 merchant ships, of these 28% were oil tankers, 43% were bulk carriers, and 13% were container ships. Military forces operate vessels for naval warfare and to transport and support forces ashore, the top 50 navies had a median fleet of 88 surface vessels each, according to various sources. There is no definition of what distinguishes a ship from a boat. Ships can usually be distinguished from boats based on size and the ability to operate independently for extended periods. A legal definition of ship from Indian case law is a vessel that carries goods by sea, a common notion is that a ship can carry a boat, but not vice versa. American and British 19th Century maritime law distinguished vessels from other craft, ships and boats fall in one legal category, a number of large vessels are usually referred to as boats. Other types of vessel which are traditionally called boats are Great Lakes freighters, riverboats. Though large enough to carry their own boats and heavy cargoes, in most maritime traditions ships have individual names, and modern ships may belong to a ship class often named after its first ship. The first known vessels date back about 10,000 years ago, the first navigators began to use animal skins or woven fabrics as sails. Affixed to the top of a pole set upright in a boat and this allowed men to explore widely, allowing for the settlement of Oceania for example. By around 3000 BC, Ancient Egyptians knew how to assemble wooden planks into a hull and they used woven straps to lash the planks together, and reeds or grass stuffed between the planks helped to seal the seams. Sneferus ancient cedar wood ship Praise of the Two Lands is the first reference recorded to a ship being referred to by name, the ancient Egyptians were perfectly at ease building sailboats. A remarkable example of their skills was the Khufu ship. Aksum was known by the Greeks for having seaports for ships from Greece, a panel found at Mohenjodaro depicted a sailing craft
6.
Prototype
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A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from. It is a used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics. A prototype is used to evaluate a new design to enhance precision by system analysts. Prototyping serves to provide specifications for a real, working system rather than a theoretical one, in some design workflow models, creating a prototype is the step between the formalization and the evaluation of an idea. The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον prototypon, primitive form, neutral of πρωτότυπος prototypos, original, primitive, from πρῶτος protos, first and τύπος typos, a Working Prototype represents all or nearly all of the functionality of the final product. A Visual Prototype represents the size and appearance, but not the functionality, a User Experience Prototype represents enough of the appearance and function of the product that it can be used for user research. A Functional Prototype captures both function and appearance of the design, though it may be created with different techniques. A Paper Prototype is a printed or hand-drawn representation of the interface of a software product. In some cases, the final production materials may still be undergoing development themselves, process - Mass-production processes are often unsuitable for making a small number of parts, so prototypes may be made using different fabrication processes than the final product. Differences in fabrication process may lead to differences in the appearance of the prototype as compared to the final product, verification - The final product may be subject to a number of quality assurance tests to verify conformance with drawings or specifications. These tests may involve custom inspection fixtures, statistical sampling methods, prototypes are generally made with much closer individual inspection and the assumption that some adjustment or rework will be part of the fabrication process. Prototypes may also be exempted from some requirements that apply to the final product. Engineers and prototype specialists will attempt to minimize the impact of these differences on the role for the prototype. Engineers and prototyping specialists seek to understand the limitations of prototypes to exactly simulate the characteristics of their intended design and it is important to realize that by their very definition, prototypes will represent some compromise from the final production design. Due to differences in materials, processes and design fidelity, it is possible that a prototype may fail to perform acceptably whereas the design may have been sound. In general, it can be expected that individual prototype costs will be greater than the final production costs due to inefficiencies in materials. Prototypes are also used to revise the design for the purposes of reducing costs through optimization and it is possible to use prototype testing to reduce the risk that a design may not perform as intended, however prototypes generally cannot eliminate all risk. As an alternative, rapid prototyping or rapid application development techniques are used for the prototypes, which implement part
7.
Pennsylvania-class battleship
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The Pennsylvania-class consisted of two super-dreadnought battleships built for the United States Navy just before the First World War. The ships were named Pennsylvania and Arizona, after the American states of the same names, the class was the second standard type battleship class to join the US Navy, along with the preceding Nevada and the succeeding New Mexico, Tennessee and Colorado classes. For the remainder of the period, the ships were used in exercises. Both Pennsylvania and Arizona were present during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Arizona was sunk by a massive magazine explosion and was turned into a memorial after the war, while Pennsylvania, in dry dock at the time, received only minor damage. After a refit from October 1942 to February 1943, Pennsylvania went on to serve as a shore bombardment ship for most of the remainder of the war, Pennsylvania was present at the Battle of Surigao Strait, the last battle ever between battleships, but did not engage. Pennsylvania was severely damaged by a torpedo on 12 August 1945, with minimal repairs, it was used in Operation Crossroads, part of the nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll, before being expended as a target ship in 1948. The preceding Nevada-class battleships represented a leap forward from previous American battleship technology and they were the first in the world to employ the all or nothing armor scheme that characterized every succeeding American battleship. The new system envisioned that, at long ranges, ships would be attacked with only armor-piercing projectiles, medium or light armor would only serve to detonate the shells. In issuing desired specifications for the design that would become the Nevada-class, moreover, there was a major benefit in weight thanks to the accompanying loss of an armored barbette and turret. These weight savings were applied to the protection, making the all or nothing concept a reality. The Nevadas were also the first American battleships to use oil fuel. The cumulative effect of the change was measured by the navy as a fifty-five percent increase in production per pound of fuel. Within a few years oil tanks below the waterline were considered indispensable parts of the armor scheme employed in American dreadnoughts. The General Boards call for a new 1913 fiscal year battleship design was sent in June 1911 with the recent Nevada innovations in mind. They desired a ship with a battery of twelve 14-inch guns in triple turrets, a secondary battery of twenty-two 5-inch guns, a speed of 21 knots. C&Rs first sketch was unsatisfactory, their design of 625 feet and 30,000 long tons actually had less armor than the Nevadas. The design process was marked by efforts to meet the General Boards specifications with only a moderate increase in tonnage over the Nevada-class. Between January and March 1912, thirteen sketches were prepared for consideration by C&R with reciprocating or turbine engines that traded either speed or metacentric height for armor
8.
Battleship
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A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries the battleship was the most powerful type of warship, the word battleship was coined around 1794 and is a contraction of the phrase line-of-battle ship, the dominant wooden warship during the Age of Sail. The term came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ironclad warship. In 1906, the commissioning of HMS Dreadnought heralded a revolution in battleship design, subsequent battleship designs, influenced by HMS Dreadnought, were referred to as dreadnoughts. Battleships were a symbol of naval dominance and national might, the launch of Dreadnought in 1906 commenced a new naval arms race. Jutland was the largest naval battle and the only full-scale clash of battleships in the war, the Naval Treaties of the 1920s and 1930s limited the number of battleships, though technical innovation in battleship design continued. The value of the battleship has been questioned, even during their heyday, there were few of the decisive fleet battles that battleship proponents expected, and used to justify the vast resources spent on building battlefleets. Battleships were retained by the United States Navy into the Cold War for fire support purposes before being stricken from the U. S. Naval Vessel Register in the 2000s. A ship of the line was a large, unarmored wooden sailing ship which mounted a battery of up to 120 smoothbore guns, from 1794, the alternative term line of battle ship was contracted to battle ship or battleship. The sheer number of guns fired broadside meant a sail battleship could wreck any wooden enemy, holing her hull, knocking down masts, wrecking her rigging, and killing her crew. However, the range of the guns was as little as a few hundred yards. The first major change to the ship of the concept was the introduction of steam power as an auxiliary propulsion system. Steam power was introduced to the navy in the first half of the 19th century, initially for small craft. The French Navy introduced steam to the line of battle with the 90-gun Napoléon in 1850—the first true steam battleship, Napoléon was armed as a conventional ship-of-the-line, but her steam engines could give her a speed of 12 knots, regardless of the wind condition. This was a decisive advantage in a naval engagement. The introduction of steam accelerated the growth in size of battleships, the adoption of steam power was only one of a number of technological advances which revolutionized warship design in the 19th century. The ship of the line was overtaken by the ironclad, powered by steam, protected by metal armor, and armed with guns firing high-explosive shells. In the Crimean War, six ships and two frigates of the Russian Black Sea Fleet destroyed seven Turkish frigates and three corvettes with explosive shells at the Battle of Sinop in 1853
9.
Royal Navy
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The Royal Navy is the United Kingdoms naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the medieval period. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century, from the middle decades of the 17th century and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century it was the worlds most powerful navy until surpassed by the United States Navy during the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing the British Empire as the world power during the 19th. Due to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, following World War I, the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size, although at the onset of the Second World War it was still the worlds largest. By the end of the war, however, the United States Navy had emerged as the worlds largest, during the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines, mostly active in the GIUK gap. The Royal Navy is part of Her Majestys Naval Service, which includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord, the Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The strength of the fleet of the Kingdom of England was an important element in the power in the 10th century. English naval power declined as a result of the Norman conquest. Medieval fleets, in England as elsewhere, were almost entirely composed of merchant ships enlisted into service in time of war. Englands naval organisation was haphazard and the mobilisation of fleets when war broke out was slow, early in the war French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340. Major fighting was confined to French soil and Englands naval capabilities sufficed to transport armies and supplies safely to their continental destinations. Such raids halted finally only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V. Henry VII deserves a large share of credit in the establishment of a standing navy and he embarked on a program of building ships larger than heretofore. He also invested in dockyards, and commissioned the oldest surviving dry dock in 1495 at Portsmouth, a standing Navy Royal, with its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships, emerged during the reign of Henry VIII. Under Elizabeth I England became involved in a war with Spain, the new regimes introduction of Navigation Acts, providing that all merchant shipping to and from England or her colonies should be carried out by English ships, led to war with the Dutch Republic. In the early stages of this First Anglo-Dutch War, the superiority of the large, heavily armed English ships was offset by superior Dutch tactical organisation and the fighting was inconclusive
10.
Frigate
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A frigate /ˈfrɪɡᵻt/ is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries. In the 17th century, this term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability and these could be warships carrying their principal batteries of carriage-mounted guns on a single deck or on two decks. The term was used for ships too small to stand in the line of battle. In the late 19th century, the frigate was a type of ironclad warship that for a time was the most powerful type of vessel afloat. The term frigate was used because such ships still mounted their principal armaments on a continuous upper deck. Ship classes dubbed frigates have more closely resembled corvettes, destroyers, cruisers. The rank frigate captain derives from the name of type of ship. The term frigate originated in the Mediterranean in the late 15th century, referring to a lighter galleass type ship with oars, sails and a light armament, built for speed and maneuverability. The etymology of the word is unknown, although it may have originated as a corruption of aphractus, aphractus was, in turn, derived from the Ancient Greek phrase ἄφρακτος ναῦς, or undefended ship. In 1583, during the Eighty Years War, Habsburg Spain recovered the Southern Netherlands from the rebellious Dutch and this soon led to the occupied ports being used as bases for privateers, the Dunkirkers, to attack the shipping of the Dutch and their allies. To achieve this they developed small, maneuverable, sailing vessels that came to be referred to as frigates, in French, the term frigate became a verb, meaning to build long and low, and an adjective, adding further confusion. Even the huge English Sovereign of the Seas could be described as a frigate by a contemporary after her upper decks were reduced in 1651. The navy of the Dutch Republic was the first navy to build the larger ocean-going frigates, the first two tasks required speed, shallowness of draft for the shallow waters around the Netherlands, and the ability to carry sufficient supplies to maintain a blockade. The third task required heavy armament, sufficient to fight against the Spanish fleet, the first of these larger battle-capable frigates were built around 1600 at Hoorn in Holland. The effectiveness of the Dutch frigates became most visible in the Battle of the Downs in 1639, encouraging most other navies, especially the English, to adopt similar designs. The fleets built by the Commonwealth of England in the 1650s generally consisted of ships described as frigates, the largest of which were two-decker great frigates of the third rate. Carrying 60 guns, these vessels were as big and capable as great ships of the time, however, most other frigates at the time were used as cruisers, independent fast ships. The term frigate implied a long hull design, which relates directly to speed and also, in turn, in Danish, the word fregat is often applied to warships carrying as few as 16 guns, such as HMS Falcon which the British classified as a sloop
11.
Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate
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The Oliver Hazard Perry class is a class of guided missile frigates named after the American Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, the hero of the naval Battle of Lake Erie. In Admiral Elmo Zumwalts high low fleet plan, the FFG-7s were the low capability ships with the Spruance-class destroyers serving as the high capability ships, fifty-five ships were built in the United States,51 for the United States Navy and four for the Royal Australian Navy. In addition, eight were built in Taiwan, six in Spain, former U. S. Navy warships of this class have been sold or donated to the navies of Bahrain, Egypt, Poland, Pakistan, Taiwan and Turkey. The first of the 51 U. S. Navy built Oliver Hazard Perry frigates entered service in 1977, and the last remaining in active service. The retired vessels were mothballed or transferred to other navies for continued service. The ships were designed by the Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine in partnership with the New York-based naval architects Gibbs & Cox, the Oliver Hazard Perry-class ships were produced in 445-foot long short-hull and 453-foot long long-hull variants. The long-hull ships carry the larger SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters, while the short-hulled warships carry the smaller, the FFG8,29,32, and 33 were built as short-hull warships but were later modified into long-hull warships. Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates were the class of surface ship in the US Navy to be built with gas turbine propulsion. The gas turbine propulsion plants also allowed the speed to be controlled directly from the bridge via a throttle control. American shipyards constructed Oliver Hazard Perry-class ships for the U. S. Navy, early American-built Australian ships were originally built as the short-hull version, but they were modified during the 1980s to the long-hull design. Shipyards in Australia, Spain, and Taiwan have produced several warships of the design for their navies. Although the per-ship costs rose greatly over the period of production, during the design phase of the Oliver Hazard Perry class, head of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors, R. J. Daniels, was invited by an old friend, US Chief of the Bureau of Ships, Adm Robert C Gooding, to advise upon the use of variable-pitch propellers in the class. During the course of conversation, Daniels warned Gooding against the use of aluminium in the superstructure of the FFG-7 class as he believed it would lead to structural weaknesses. A number of ships subsequently developed structural cracks, including a 40 ft fissure in USS Duncan and they could also provide air defense against 1970s- and 1980s-era aircraft and anti-ship missiles. These warships are equipped to escort and protect aircraft carrier groups, amphibious landing groups, underway replenishment groups. They can conduct independent operations to such tasks as surveillance of illegal drug smugglers, maritime interception operations. The addition of the Naval Tactical Data System, LAMPS helicopters, and they are well suited to operations in littoral regions, and for most war-at-sea scenarios
12.
Adelaide-class frigate
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The Adelaide class is a ship class of six guided missile frigates constructed in Australia and the United States of America for service in the Royal Australian Navy. The class is based on the United States Navys Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates, the first four vessels were built in the United States, while the other two were constructed in Australia. The first ship entered service in November 1980, and three of the six ships are active as of 2015, Sydney was decommissioned in late 2015, after spending most of the year as a moored training ship. The Hobart-class air-warfare destroyers will replace the remaining frigates from 2016 onwards, following the cancellation of the Australian light destroyer project in 1973, the British Type 42 destroyer and the American Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate were identified as alternatives. Although the Type 42 met the RANs requirements as a replacement for the cancelled light destroyers, despite this, the Australian government approved the purchase of two US-built Perry-class ships in 1974. The risk of acquiring an unproven design was seen as acceptable because of the success of the USNs Charles F, adams-class destroyer, when compared to the equivalent British ships the RAN would have purchased. Final government approval to order two ships was granted in 1976, with a ship ordered in 1977. The order was expanded in April 1980 with the order of a fourth unit, the first, HMAS Adelaide was built to the Flight I design, while Canberra and Sydney were the first and last ships of the Flight II design, respectively. The final American-built ship was Darwin, constructed to the Flight III design, in 1980, two more ships were ordered, but were built in Australia by AMECON of Williamstown, Victoria, and did not receive USN numbers. Since the withdrawal of the Perth-class destroyers, these ships are the RANs primary air defence vessels and they also have significant anti-surface capability, being armed with a 76-millimetre Mk 75 gun and the Harpoon ASM, and a pair of triple torpedo tubes for ASW. In addition, two S-70B Seahawk helicopters are carried, from 2005 onwards, all RAN frigates deploying to the Persian Gulf are fitted with two M2HB.50 calibre machine guns in Mini Typhoon mounts, installed on the aft corners of the hangar roof. Two TopLite EO directors are used with the guns, there have been two major upgrades distinguishing the Adelaide class from the American Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates. The first three ships were constructed to the Perry class short hull design, with a length for both the main deck and the keel. Ships from FFG-36 onwards were built with an increase in overall length—achieved by angling the transom to increase the area of the flight deck and allow the operation of Seahawk helicopters. Adelaide, Canberra, and Sydney were later upgraded to match the larger ships. In the mid-1990s, the Australian government commenced SEA1390, also known as the FFG Upgrade Project. Originally costing A$1 billion, which has expanded to A$1.46 billion, the project includes improvements to the combat and fire system, the sonar suite. The upgrade was for four ships and intended to expand their service life to approximately 2020, the project cost was partly offset by the decommissioning of the two oldest units, Canberra paying off in 2005 and Adelaide in 2008
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