Virginia class (cruiser)
_1985.jpg) The Arkansas 1,985 at sea |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Type | Guided missile cruiser |
| units | 4 built, 0 in service |
| Namesake | US state of Virginia |
| period of service |
1976 to 1998 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
approx. 12,000 tn.l. fully loaded |
| length |
178.60 meters |
| width |
19.20 meters |
| Draft |
9.8 meters |
| crew |
39 officers, 539 sailors |
| drive |
2 propellers, driven by a nuclear reactor; 60,000 wave horsepower |
| speed |
30+ knots |
| Armament |
2 starter anti-aircraft missiles |
The Virginia-class was a class of nuclear cruisers that the United States Navy entered service in the late 1970s and retired in the 1990s to relieve the Navy’s budget. The four units of the class were the last nuclear-powered surface combat ships that the US Navy had built. Since then, only aircraft carriers and submarines have been built with such a drive.
history
Planning and construction
Planning for the Virginia class began in the late 1960s as the successor to the California class . This happened as part of the so-called DXGN program, which was supposed to promote the commissioning of nuclear-powered escort units for aircraft carrier combat groups . At that time, the US Navy had a need for combat ships that could keep up with nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in terms of range and speed. Originally eleven Virginias were to be built, but this plan was dropped after the fourth unit and the class was reduced to five units. This fifth unit was also canceled before the keel was laid . Originally the ships were classified as destroyers ( DLGN = Destroyer Large / Leader Guided Missile nuclear powered, German large (command) destroyer with guided missiles, nuclear powered ), but before they were put into service they were classified as CGN (= Cruiser Guided Missile nuclear powered, German nuclear powered guided missile cruiser ) reclassified. The reason for the reclassification was the size and displacement of the ships, which was in the classic dimensions for cruisers. In addition, thanks to their nuclear drive, the ships were independent of constant supply, so that they could operate without a fixed fleet. The main reason (since the classifications say little about the purpose anyway) was probably that the US Congress would rather approve funds for a more powerful sounding cruiser than for a destroyer that is more likely to perform auxiliary tasks within a fleet.
The reduction was, in addition to the occurrence of gas turbine ships ( Spruance class ) , which are as effective in terms of acceleration and top speed as nuclear-powered ships, above all due to severe cost overruns in the first units. The shipyard costs in 1972 were supposed to be 85 million US dollars, in fact they rose to around 180 million dollars , among other things due to inflation and additional construction-related costs, the total construction costs averaged 320 million US dollars instead of the estimated 220 million US dollars -Dollar.
The construction of the units took place at Newport News Shipbuilding , the ships spent around two years in dry dock , the equipment also took around two years.
Apart from the aircraft carriers, the Virginias were the last class of nuclear powered surface vessels and at the same time completed the original DLG / DLGN classification. Without exception, the classes were relatively small: the Leahy and Belknap classes with nine conventionally powered ships each. USS Long Beach (CGN-9) , USS Bainbridge (CGN-25) and USS Truxtun (CGN-35) as single -ship classes , as well as the California class with two units. All of these cruisers were replaced by the conventionally powered Ticonderoga class by 1998 . The planned mid-1970s CGN-42 class , which should combine the hull of the Virginias with the Aegis combat system , was canceled for reasons of cost.
Working time
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The four units were put into service between 1976 and 1980, making them the last nuclear powered surface combat ships in the US Navy. The four ships were decommissioned in the 1990s after less than 20 years of service. The reasons for this were purely economic: After the end of the Cold War , the budget of the US Navy was greatly reduced, so that the Navy had to save money. The choice fell on the Virginia-class cruisers , which due to their high crew of over 500 men and the high-maintenance nuclear drive cost around 40 million US dollars a year to maintain. In addition, the reactors had to be refilled as well as a half-life safeguarding, in which, in addition to major work on the shell, more modern electronics would have had to be retrofitted. Another option would have been to use a vertical launching system .
The decommissioning was controversial as the ships were only just halfway through their lifespan and their anti-aircraft capabilities did not match that of the Ticonderoga class with their Aegis combat system , but could keep up with that of other units in the fleet. The superstructures of the four units were removed, and the dismantling of the hulls with the reactors as part of the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program began in 1999.
technology
hull
With a length of almost 180 meters and a width of almost 19 meters, the hull of the Virginia class was similar in size to that of the previous California class , but could be shortened slightly by a different arrangement of the magazines below deck. The displacement of the ships was around 12,000 tons. The deck superstructure was, as usual for the nuclear cruisers of the US Navy, relatively short and amidships, there was a lot of free deck area. The reactor was also amidships so that its heavy weight did not interfere with the trim . For the first time since the Des Moines-class cruisers from the 1940s, a hangar for the helicopters was not housed in the aft superstructure, but under the aft deck.
drive
The drive consisted of two nuclear reactors of the type D2G ( D for destroyers , 2 for the 2nd generation of nuclear reactors, G for the manufacturer, General Electric ), each of which generated a thermal output of up to 150 MW . The reactors transferred around 60,000 hp to each of the two shafts by steam turbines; so the Virginias could reach speeds of over 30 knots. With only one active reactor, the speed was reduced to 25 to 27 knots. The drive system weighed around 2600 tons.
Armament
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At the beginning of the service period of the Virginia class , the armament consisted of two double-arm launchers Mk. 26 for the anti-aircraft missile Standard Missile 1 ( medium range , German medium range ) as well as missile torpedoes type ASROC . One of the starters is at the bow (this was equipped for the ASROC), another at the stern. In addition, a Mk. 45 -127-millimeter gun with a length of 54 caliber was installed in front of and aft of the superstructure . This was with a cadence 16-20 rounds per minute within 13 nautical miles from ships and slow-flying flying objects are used. At the aft end of the superstructure there were also two triple torpedo tubes that could fire the lightweight Mk. 46 torpedo .
When the ship was in dock in the 1980s, the Virginia class ships were also equipped with two quadruple launchers for the anti-ship missile AGM-84 Harpoon , which were placed directly in front of the superstructure, as well as two armored box launchers for a total of eight cruise missiles BGM-109 Tomahawk , which were set up on the helicopter landing deck. Two Gatling cannons of the Phalanx CIWS type were installed amidships for close-range defense . The air defense was upgraded from SM-1 to the improved version Standard Missile 2 .
electronics
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The Virginia-class was equipped with the air surveillance radar SPS-40 of Lockheed with a range of up to 200 miles, which is installed on the aft mast. The SPS-48 from ITT-Gilfillan with a range of up to 230 miles, which was located on the front mast, served as an altitude search radar for air targets . A SPS-55 served as surface search radar, also on the front mast .
The sonar system used was the bow-mounted SQS-53A , a system that can search for underwater targets both actively and passively. In the version A used , all control elements were still analog. A system called the AN / SLQ-25 Nixie could be deployed against a torpedo launched on a Virginia-class ship . This is a towed bait that imitates the sounds of the ship.
The Virginia class was one of the first ever to have SLQ-32 on board. This system for electronic warfare consists of antennas for telecommunication and electronic reconnaissance as well as for electronic countermeasures . The SLQ-32 package also includes the Mk 36 SRBOC , which shoots chaffs and flares into the air that are intended to deflect approaching missiles away from the ship with both radar and infrared seekers.
Aircraft
The Virginia-class ships had a helicopter landing pad on the quarterdeck. A hangar measuring 12.8 mx 4.3 m was available below deck for a helicopter and could be reached by means of an elevator. The class was only equipped with the LAMPS-I helicopter Kaman SH-2 Seasprite , the more modern Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk were only to be used on ships that were planned for submarine hunting . However, a helicopter was rarely on board because the hangar system did not prove itself. The elevator should not have been perfectly sealed, which is why the work in this area should have been extremely unpopular with the crew. Since the retrofitting with Tomahawk , the landing option has also theoretically been lost.
Mission profile
The Virginia-class units were primarily intended as air defense ships for aircraft carrier combat groups , the anti -submarine capacity was mainly limited by the lack of Seahawk helicopters. The classification as a cruiser indicates a certain capacity for operations outside a fleet or as the leader of a smaller task force . These and other possibilities, which necessitate the classification as a cruiser (“keeping the sea routes free”), were only created with the retrofitting of anti-ship missiles and cruise missiles.
Operations of the class included missions off Lebanon and the Great Syrte in 1982 and 1983, as well as in the Arabian Sea during the Iran-Iraq war . The units were also used as flagships for smaller groups as part of Operation Desert Storm . The USS Virginia fired two tomahawks from the Mediterranean Sea at targets in Iraq; this was the greatest distance at that time over which a cruise missile was used in combat.
literature
- Wilhelm M. Donko: The nuclear cruisers of the US Navy . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz 1987, ISBN 3-7637-5836-4 .
Web links
Footnotes
- ^ Stefan Terzibaschitsch : Seemacht USA , Bechtermünz-Verlag, ISBN 3-86047-576-2 , page 336
- ^ Wilhelm M. Donko: The atomic cruisers of the US Navy , Bernard & Graefe Verlag Koblenz 1987, ISBN 3-7637-5836-4 , p. 107f
