USS United States (CVA-58)
_in_October_1948.jpg) USS United States (CVA-58) concept image |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Order | July 29, 1948 |
| Keel laying | April 18, 1949 |
| 1. Period of service |
|
| Whereabouts | April 23, 1949 Construction canceled |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
83,350 ts |
| length |
331 m |
| width |
60 m |
| Draft |
11.3 m |
| crew |
approx. 5000 |
| drive |
Steam turbines, four screws |
| speed |
33 knots (61 km / h) |
| Armament |
8 × 5 "gun |
| Aircraft |
up to 85 |
The USS United States (CVA-58) was to be an aircraft carrier in service with the United States Navy . The ship was intended as the lead ship of the four-ship United States class . The construction of the ship, which would have become the first "supercarrier" (an aircraft carrier that would far exceed the aircraft carriers of World War II in size) began on April 18, 1949, but was canceled only five days later due to differences in military policy. This decision ultimately led to the so-called " uprising of the admirals ".
The stumbling block was the fact that the United States was supposed to be the first to deploy nuclear weapons carriers at sea. Until then, only United States Air Force planes had carried atomic bombs . The aircraft carrier was to take on a Carrier Air Group , which would have consisted of 12 nuclear bombers as attack components and 45 fighters for escort tasks. Only two years later, however, planning began for a new class of aircraft carriers, which from 1955 also received atomic bombs.
history
On July 29, 1948, US President Harry S. Truman approved the construction of a supercarrier . The project had been planned by the Navy for a long time. Funding for this ship was provided in the Naval Appropriations Act of 1949 . The project was funded primarily by Defense Secretary James V. Forrestal , a former naval aviator . The planned classification was CVA for Cruiser Volplane Attack , in German cruisers with fixed-wing aircraft for attack purposes . A four-unit United States class of aircraft carriers was planned, the type ship of which should have been CVA-58.
_on_18th_April_1948.jpg)
The keel of the United States was laid on April 18, 1949 at the Newport News Shipbuilding yard in Newport News , Virginia . The cost should be around $ 190 million for the first unit. The following three units in the class had not been approved or given names at the time.
Right from the start, the project faced stiff opposition from other branches of the armed forces, especially the Army and Air Force . They feared that their budget could be cut by the enormous cost of the four ships. The Air Force also feared for its monopoly on owning planes that could carry nuclear weapons. The Joint Chiefs of Staff therefore saw the United States as an unnecessary duplication of capabilities that the Air Force already possessed.
The new Secretary of Defense, Louis A. Johnson , who was close to the Air Force, gave in to this pressure and on April 23, 1949, just five days after the United States had laid the keel , announced the abandonment of the entire project. Instead, the Convair B-36 atomic bomber was procured for the Air Force. This decision, along with further cuts in naval aviation , escalated the long-smoldering admiral uprising. After the announcement of the decision to stop the construction of the United States , Secretary of the Navy John L. Sullivan resigned in protest, the Chief of Naval Operations Louis E. Denfeld was dismissed in November by the new Secretary of the Navy Francis P. Matthews because of his involvement in the uprising. As early as 1951, however, the Truman government revised its attitude towards aircraft carriers and commissioned the Forrestal class , which, however, introduced a fundamentally different design in aircraft carrier construction.
technology
hull
_being_laid_in_a_construction_dry_dock_on_18_April_1948.jpg)
The hull of the United States should be 331 meters above sea level. a. show, 299 meters were intended as the waterline length. The flight deck would have been 332 meters long. The width of the fuselage should be 38 meters, that of the flight deck at its widest point 60 meters. The draft of the ship was calculated at 11.3 meters. The displacement would have been 83,350 ts with a full load and 66,000 ts standard displacement . At these sizes, the ship would have been by far the largest aircraft carrier of its time (the previous Midway-class units had a standard displacement of 45,000 tons and were less than 300 meters long).
Superstructures ("island"), as they were and are present on most earlier and all later aircraft carriers for accommodating the navigating bridge , for monitoring the flight deck and for the radar and radio systems, were not provided. The flight deck of the ship would have been largely flat, so the aircraft carrier would have become a flush deck carrier , or in German a smooth deck carrier .
drive
A steam drive was provided to propel the United States . Eight boilers from Foster Wheeler were to heat water to a maximum steam pressure of 8.3 MPa , the steam was to drive four geared turbines from Westinghouse Electric Corporation . Each of these turbines would have driven a screw 6.2 meters in diameter. The system's output would have been 280,000 hp or 209 megawatts.
The United States could have reached speeds of 33 knots or 61 km / h with this system. This maximum speed would have been used regularly when aircraft take off, since the resulting relative wind effectively reduces the aircraft's take-off speed.
Armament
The United States should get some self-defense guns against ships and planes. These would have been placed on swallow nests (platforms just below the edge around the flight deck). Eight 5-inch / 127-mm L / 54 guns in single turrets and six 3-inch / 76-mm L / 37 guns in three twin turrets were planned. As anti-aircraft guns were also 20 20-mm Oerlikon cannons to be installed.
Aircraft
_on_6_December_1955_(NH_97459).jpg)
The United States should take on a Carrier Air Group consisting of 12 nuclear bombers and 45 fighters for escort duties. Either Lockheed P2V-3C Neptune or North American AJ Savage were to be used as bombers , the former only being able to take off from the ship, but not land on it. In use, these would have had a range of around 3500 kilometers, with a takeoff weight of between 25 and 35 tons. This weight was mainly achieved by the atomic bombs weighing up to five tons. Escorts should be flown by McDonnell XF2H Banshee , with ranges similar to those of the bombers.
A hangar was planned for the aircraft under the flight deck. These would have been brought to deck via four elevators, one of which was to be installed on starboard and port side, amidships and at the stern. The safe start of the aircraft would have been guaranteed by four catapults, each of which would have started shortly before the elevators and the fighters and bombers were supposed to accelerate slightly outboard in the direction of travel (to take advantage of the wind generated by the journey above the deck).
Mission profile
The United States class carriers were intended as mobile airports for launching nuclear attack flights. With this new idea, the US Navy wanted to reduce the political component in planning such nuclear strikes. By deploying aircraft carriers off the coast of an enemy at a time when the global range of aircraft was still wishful thinking, one would have become independent of the stationing of bombers in foreign countries. In addition, a retaliatory strike against the mobile carriers would have been far more difficult to plan and carry out than against stationary airfields.
The fighters on board would have been able to provide air defense for the carrier and could also have provided cover for the bombers, but also for amphibious operations .
In an emergency, the carriers would have been deployed as part of a massive aircraft carrier combat group. This should consist of up to 39 ships and was based on the experiences from the Pacific War , in which aircraft carriers were the target of massive attacks.
literature
Jared A. Zichek: The Incredible Attack Aircraft of the USS United States, 1948-1949 . Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-0-7643-3229-6 .
Web links
- USS United States In: globalsecurity.org (English)
- Death and Rebirth of the Supercarrier , Andrew Toppan, 1996 (English)
- This aircraft carrier drove admirals to revolt
Individual evidence
- ^ Robert F. Dorr: 7th Bombardment Group / Wing, 1918-1995 , p. 205, ISBN 1563112787 .
