Hey, Isn't This Somebody's Ship?
 

NYT: The Ponce Floating Base Steps Up U.S. Presence in the Persian Gulf

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...ticleLarge.jpg

At First "Look"
 

I'd say the U.S. Navy owns and Operates it for the U.S. DoD (?)

Or maybe it's some sort of Seal or Force Recon forward base ?

(Of course,even with a magnifying glass these old Mark Ones miss a lot.)

What I can't "See" on deck P.+S. are a couple of these:

There's one on the forecastle, above the row of life raft containers.

If that vessel has to shoot, the United States is in serious trouble. It's a hotel and supply depot, not a warship.

Ponce was changed from USS to USNS. In which deck and engineering duties are handled by contractors while CIC and communications and weapons systems are manned by naval personnel. The captain and a handful of officers are commissioned in the USN.

Could use a paint job...

I thought we were getting out of the Middle East? :confused:

In April 2013 the US Navy announced that it was deploying a laser weapon prototype in the Persian Gulf. For the first time the ships are going to be equipped with a laser attack weapon able to disable patrol boats and blind or destroy surveillance drones as the tests have shown. The Navy calls its new weapon LAWS (which stands for the Laser Weapon System). The prototype shipboard laser is to be deployed on board of the USS Ponce, a converted amphibious transport and docking ship in the Persian Gulf, which serves as a floating base for military operations and humanitarian assistance in the waters of the Middle East and southwestern Asia. The laser will be operational next year. Many of the details about how the laser works remain secret, such as how far its beam can travel, how powerful it is or how much power is used to generate it. What is known is that the laser is designed to be a «plug and play» system that integrates into a ship’s existing targeting technologies and power grids. Those factors make it a surprisingly cheap weapon. The U.S. Navy also has other systems under development that are intended to shoot down enemy drones homing in on surface vessels. Similarly, the U.S. Army announced in 2011 that it was doing research on Laser-Induced Plasma Channel (LIPC), which can fire a laser-guided, 50 billion watt «lightning bolt» at a target.

US Announces “Significant Changes” for Military Policy | Global Research

Ah, the sweet memories of home: They don

Did they upgrade her power plant for her 2nd life? Where was home for you?

Mine was @ 03-12-00. Memories indeed!;)

1st photo caption:
Machinist’s Mate Fireman Casey Burton dismantles and inspects one of the two oil strainer assemblies that filters the oil in the starboard engine

Engine???:confused:

The boiler and main engine are in the same engineering space. I think that's the upper level catwalk on the port side of the starboard main turbine and engine. I'll look again.

The fuel oil filters were bypassed when we shifted from NSFO to JP-5 so that's gotta be a lube oil filter. Hmmm, one of my buddies from back then was an MM3. I'll shoot that page to him for his opinion.

Nope, that's lower level. Maybe on the aft bulkhead? Not sure.

Cheny is rolling over in his grave just about now......Oh--Damit, i just heard.

the least deserving person on the planet got a doner heart transplant.

Thank you for that edifying contribution.

damn it --there you go again with those big words.........

I read an article in The Navy Reservist a while back about the extensive use of reservists to crew the ship and strong hints of AT and ADT opportunities for reservists in the right rates. I mostly skimmed it since my rate isn't one of the ones they're looking for.

If you are gonna sell drone warfare you gotta sell anti-drone warfare. Wouldn't want any competition in the warfare game. That 5h1t could get ugly if you let the wrong people in the party. Monopoly is good for business. Keep 'em payin' and keep 'em prayin'. New business for the world bank. Gotta borrow more money to keep up with them heathens on the other side of the mountain.

Doubt they'd let me bring my walker and Depends aboard.

Ah yes. Lube oil filter. I was stuck on a "fuel oil"filter and was puzzled if the caption was referring to the boiler as an "engine". For the record she is still steam powered, turbine driven, yes?
Amphibious Transport Dock Photo Index LPD-15 Ponce

Nice set of service ribbons.:cool:

Sure am glad you aren't assigning who gets what life-saving procedures!
FYI, unlike many in the "ruling class", Cheney did not pull rank, or jump ahead of others waiting in line. I can't remember the exact statistics, but when he got on the waiting list he was about number 30, but actually went at about 50.
Somehow Cheney is less hateful and arrogant than his critics.

Yeah, steam. 2, 650 psi uncontrolled superheated steam, modified D-type boilers. 2 main engines. The other photos show the front of the boiler with 5 burners in #1 engineering space -- powering the starboard engine. It's one hell of a transmission going from 4-5 krpm steam turbine to a max of a couple hundred rpm on the shaft. 4 steam turbine electric generators. 4 emergency power diesel generators (IIRC). 2 fw evaporators.

To run that laser it's gotta have a hell of a coolant system for the gi-normous capacitor. Sure as hell wouldn't want to be in the engineering space when that capacitor lets go. Imagine the induced emf. Just a guess, that.

BATH, MAINE – Some of the Navy's futuristic weapons sound like something out of "Star Wars," with lasers designed to shoot down aerial drones and electric guns that fire projectiles at hypersonic speeds.

That future is now.

The Navy plans to deploy its first laser on a ship later this year, and it intends to test an electromagnetic rail gun prototype aboard a vessel within two years.

For the Navy, it's not so much about the whiz-bang technology as it is about the economics of such armaments. Both costs pennies on the dollar compared with missiles and smart bombs, and the weapons can be fired continuously, unlike missiles and bombs, which eventually run out.

'It fundamentally changes the way we fight.'
- Capt. Mike Ziv, program manager for directed energy and electric weapon systems

"It fundamentally changes the way we fight," said Capt. Mike Ziv, program manager for directed energy and electric weapon systems for the Naval Sea Systems Command.

The Navy's laser technology has evolved to the point that a prototype to be deployed aboard the USS Ponce this summer can be operated by a single sailor, he said.

The solid-state Laser Weapon System is designed to target what the Navy describes as "asymmetrical threats." Those include aerial drones, speed boats and swarm boats, all potential threats to warships in the Persian Gulf, where the Ponce, a floating staging base, is set to be deployed.

Rail guns, which have been tested on land in Virginia, fire a projectile at six or seven times the speed of sound -- enough velocity to cause severe damage. The Navy sees them as replacing or supplementing old-school guns, firing lethal projectiles from long distances.

But both systems have shortcomings.

TIMELINE
The military has spent years developing a variety of "directed energy" weapons. Here's a look back at some key milestones:
Aug. 15, 2013: Boeing said blasts from its Thin Disk Laser surpassed 30 kilowatts, 30 percent beyond DOD standards -- enough to do some serious damage.
Jan. 29, 2013: Following successful tests of 150-kilowatt lasers, the Pentagon announced plans for both the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy to carry out tests by 2014.
April 8, 2011: In a key test, a gun on a speeding cruiser successfully blasted a robotic boat bobbing in Pacific waters.
Feb. 18, 2011: A test blast from a "free-electron laser" set a new power record -- a sustained 500 kilovolts of electricity.
June 3, 2010: Naval Sea Systems command successfully tracked, engaged, and destroyed several unmanned aircraft with a giant laser.
Lasers tend to loser their effectiveness if it's raining, if it's dusty, or if there's turbulence in the atmosphere, and the rail gun requires vast amount of electricity to launch the projectile, said Loren Thompson, defense analyst at the Lexington Institute.

"The Navy says it's found ways to deal with use of lasers in bad weather, but there's little doubt that the range of the weapon would be reduced by clouds, dust or precipitation," he said.

Producing enough energy for a rail gun is another problem.

The Navy's new destroyer, the Zumwalt, under construction at Bath Iron Works in Maine, is the only ship with enough electric power to run a rail gun. The stealthy ship's gas turbine-powered generators can produce up to 78 megawatts of power. That's enough electricity for a medium-size city -- and more than enough for a rail gun.

Technology from the three ships in that DDG-1000 series will likely trickle down into future warships, said Capt. James Downey, the program manager.

Engineers are also working on a battery system to store enough energy to allow a rail gun to be operated on warships currently in the fleet.

Both weapon systems are prized because they serve to "get ahead of the cost curve," Ziv said.

In other words, they're cheap.

Each interceptor missile aboard a U.S. Navy warship costs at least $1 million apiece, making it cost-prohibitive to defend a ship in some hostile environments in which an enemy is using aircraft, drones, artillery, cruise missiles and artillery, Thompson said.

With a laser operating on about 30 kilowatts of electricity -- and possibly three times that in the future -- the cost amounts to a few dollars per shot, Thompson said.

The "Star Wars" analogy isn't a bad one.

Just like in the movies, the Navy's laser directs a beam of energy that can burn through a target or fry sensitive electronics. Unlike the movie, the laser beam is invisible to the human eye.

The targeting system locks onto the target, sending a beam of searing heat. "You see the effect on what you are targeting but you don't see the actual beam," Ziv said.

Other nations are developing their own lasers, but the Navy is more advanced at this point.

Most folks are stunned to learn the technology is ready for deployment, Ziv said.

"It's fair to say that there are other countries working on this technology. That's safe to say. But I would also say that a lot of what makes this successful came from the way in which we consolidated all of the complexity into something that can be operated by (a single sailor)," he said.

US Navy ready to deploy laser system this summer; rail guns aren't far behind | Fox News

Who gives a frick about the Persian Gulf anymore? We're too busy frackin the bejezezus out of the bread basket and where else not :)

The new generation of aircraft careers can produce lots and lots of electricity and are switching to magnetic catapults.

Laser defensive systems on board or on the way perhaps?

Did you miss the part where the cost of these advanced weapons require less manpower ($$$) are more accurate (cost-effective=$$$), and cost 0.01 (or better) of conventional munitions?

As a taxpayer (admittedly, a shrinking minority) I approve.

The Gulf is a major shipping lane, and Iran could threaten it.


Like it or not a lot of our stuff and our allies stuff sails threw that area of the world. If Iran starts popping ships for fun it will affect everyone.

But it makes little sense to shoot a $5k gunboat with a $1m missile, even if the $5k gunboat is trying to sink a $100m oil tanker. Now if you can fry that same gunboat with a laser for $19.99 why not?

Laser Cannons and Railguns Join the Navy Arsenal
Once the stuff of science fiction, advanced technologies help to keep America's shores and allies safe.


By MATTHEW KLUNDER
May 15, 2014 7:02 p.m. ET
I have a son getting ready to enter the Navy this month and people often ask me: "Are you OK with him entering such a dangerous profession?" For me the answer is easy: I am honored and humbled by his eagerness to defend his country and stand up for the democratic principles of the Constitution.

But as chief of Naval Research, I am also committed to ensuring that my son and his military colleagues have the best technology available to protect themselves and their nation from hostile states, extremists or other threats. Maritime strength is essential: 80% of the world's population lives near the sea; 90% of all world trade travels by ocean. From disaster relief in Haiti, Japan and the Philippines to autonomous underwater vehicles contributing to the search for the missing Malaysian airliner, Navy and Marine Corps technologies are ready and in demand.

Advanced technologies that were once the stuff of science fiction are also in the pipeline. This summer the Navy will deploy a laser cannon at sea for the first time and plans to test an electromagnetic railgun on a ship in 2016. The laser cannon delivers an invisible beam of energy with pinpoint accuracy that can take out an incoming plane, drone or boat. The electromagnetic railgun—using electricity rather than gunpowder—will defend against incoming missiles and opposing ships, and project power far inland by launching low-cost guided projectiles hundreds of miles at hypervelocity speeds over Mach 7.

Breakthrough technologies like these give commanders the option to deter, disable or destroy threats from greater distances. In addition, there is no limit to how many rounds a laser can fire, and at just $1 per shot, laser cannons will save the Pentagon (and taxpayers) many millions once fully deployed.

We're also developing Large Displacement Unmanned Underwater Vehicles, which will enable undersea operations as never before. It won't be long before unmanned, intelligent swarming vehicles from under, on and above the sea are able to overwhelm adversaries' vessels and protect U.S. ships.

You may have seen a YouTube video of Amazon's small, experimental drone delivering a book to a customer's doorstep. Now imagine a sailor or Marine pulling out a tablet and directing a full-size, unmanned helicopter to deliver 5,000 pounds of valuable supplies—whether lifesaving medical gear, food or ammunition—autonomously. That isn't fantasy. It was done successfully during test flights this year in Quantico, Va.

Advanced technology such as this requires extensive research in fundamental science and engineering. To that end, the Department of the Navy has the largest basic-research portfolio in the military. These investments are managed by the Office of Naval Research, overseeing thousands of academic grants and partnerships with small businesses and industry.

New military technologies require new skills in the age of cyberwarfare. To stay ahead, we have developed new network-security tools that defend against cyberattacks. The tools enable naval tactical cloud technology to rapidly assimilate big data and provide predictive, disruptive capabilities. In other words, we can detect a cyberthreat in the making and strike before being struck.

Past discoveries made at the Naval Research Laboratory, and other national laboratories partnered with industry and universities, have produced technologies crucial to today's world, including radar, global-positioning systems and cellular mobile devices. Current research is leading to more discoveries. A recent breakthrough: converting seawater into carbon dioxide and hydrogen, which could be used to make jet fuel.

I never want to see U.S. sailors or Marines in a fair fight. The potency and affordability of new technologies will help ensure that American military personnel and partner nations have such an advantage that our adversaries know they can never win.

Rear Adm. Klunder is chief of Naval Research at the Office of Naval Research in Arlington, Va.

Laser equipped
 

Hey Bot,

The old girl has a new toy.:D

Laser weapon breaks cover on USS Ponce - IHS Jane's 360

A buck a shot.;)

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=uss+ponce+laser+weapon&qpvt=uss+ponce+laser+weapon&FORM=VDRE#view=detail&mid=56DBF334A89C23 01986956DBF334A89C23019869

LOL Argentina is going to need a hell of a lot more than that boat to take the Falklands. Perhaps those Mistral amphibious assault ships the French built for the Russians but never delivered are still available?

What ASW features does this ship have so it does not suffer the Belgrano fate

None of its own. However, it has a helicopter flight deck which can carry asw choppers.

Really, the vessel has limited defense systems and was designed to be protected by a task force.

IMO, no surface vessel can evade a determined sub attack if the sub captain is totally committed and willing to risk sacrifice of his own vessel after the attack. Once unmasked, vessels with asw mission have good odds of destroying a sub. Preventing a determined sub attack is nearly impossible.

The night before the USS Liberty was attacked during the Six Day War, one of our tin cans picked up a sonar contact and subsequent helo contact confirmed presence of a Soviet sub. News of that was soon drowned out by the Israeli attack.
On 7 June 1967, the destroyer USS Lloyd Thomas (DD-764), in company

with America, obtained a sonar contact, which was classified as a "possible" submarine. Rear Adm. Geis immediately dispatched Lloyd Thomas and the guided missile destroyer USS Sampson (DDG-10) to investigate the contact. Sampson obtained contact quickly and coordinated with Lloyd Thomas in tracking the possible submarine.


America launched one of her antisubmarine helicopters, a Sikorsky SH-3A Sea King of Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron Nine (HS 9), and gained sonar contact. At midnight, the contact was reclassified as a "probable" submarine. At that time, no known or friendly submarines were reported to be in the area of the contact. The destroyers maintained good sonar contact through the night.


At 0530 on 8 June, a Lockheed SP-2H Neptune antisubmarine patrol plane of Patrol Squadron Seven (VP 7), coordinating with the destroyers and helicopters, obtained a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) confirmation over the contact. The MAD equipment allows an ASW aircraft to confirm that a contact detected in the sea by other means is actually a very large metal object.

Rear Adm. Geis announced the "probable" submarine's presence at noon. The newsmen, still embarked, dashed off stories to their home offices. Other events, however, would soon over-shadow the story about a 'probable' sub lurking near an American carrier task force. .........

The U.S. Navy

I attended the decommissioning of USS Ponce this past weekend as a plankowner. I was there to receive the orders to man the ship and was there to see the ensign hauled down and the watch dismissed, not relieved. 46 years in service. We got E’s my whole time aboard.

Went down to visit the oil shack, where I worked for two years as Oil King. Went to #1 engineroom where I started as messenger and ended as BTOW. The sailor on watch down there let me take a burner nozzle. My plank.

Fair winds and a following sea, old shipmates.

At the end of the ceremony the band played the Sailors Hymn.

Perfect.

Bot,


Good on you for going!:) I'll bet that was quite an experience filled with mixed emotions. How long were you attached to the PONCE? You're entire hitch? Did you catch up with any former Division shipmates or officers and swap war stories?

I've never been to a decommissioning. I'd probably need a couple of Kleenex. :o
Does the deck watch or crew members actually leave the ship? Do they strike the colors? I assume she was still making steam for power? He should have given you a whole burner. :P

What's her fate? Scrap heap? Target Practice? Mothballed?

"Taps! Taps! Out all white lights. All hands turn in to their racks and maintain silence about the decks. Taps."

So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all


BZ

Oh, it was full of hoary Naval ceremony. A vice admiral, a rear admiral and a Marine Brigadier General. You remember piping aboard and sideboys, etc. Ding-ding, CINCLANT arriving, etc. last guy was “Ponce arriving”.

There was a fair mess of other scrambled eggs.

Starting with the vice admiral, they each said fine ship, missed no commitments in 46 years. Two battle stars. Etc. kind words directed toward plankowners (about twenty of us old farts) setting the standard, etc. the vice admiral turned to the Captain and offered him the lectern. Captain asked plankowners to rise. Applause. Handed the CMAA a handful of ship’s company caps and ordered them given to plankowners. We all kind of choked on that one.

Last words of each formal speaker were consistently, old ship did well. It’s tired. Mission now filled by more modern vessels designed for modern challenges, etc. general reminded the attendees that the vessel was designed to address the needs of WWII marine amphibious assault. Unlikely to ever do it that way again. The marines don’t need it.

Then the Captain read his official orders and said, “XO, strike the colors and secure the watch.” A chief and the LT(jg), the OOD, marched to the fantail and hauled down the ensign and folded it like a funeral flag. Marched back to the Captain and the master chief presented it to the Captain. The jg gave him the commissioning pennant. Salute. Depart. Captain choked a bit and recovered. Old farts choked up.

Decommissioning did a ceremonial departure with the former captain, “Captain, United States Navy, departing.” Ding.

They all came back and had an informal reception for all the attendees. Most of us were older than the admirals and the Captain looked like he should be driving a jazzed up lifted 4x4. Then the Captain asked plankowners to step to the front and the senior officers and chiefs came to speak to us separately. Nice touch.

The invitation said there would be no tours. Even so, one of us old farts asked the vice admiral if we could look around. He said, “I think I can make that happen.” So off we went. Visited my old rack. Machinery spaces and Oil King. When I was onboard, Oil King billet was E6/E7. I ended up Oil King as a BTFN. Eventually made BT3. Then sent down to the hole (got a new chief, RHIP) and qualified BTOW in both engineering spaces. Now the Oil King billet was filled by an officer. Go figure.

The majority of plankowners present were Engineering Department with M&B Div predominating. B-Div officer was there. That night he, the former Weapons Officer and I repaired to the hotel and destroyed a bottle of Glenfiddich. Swapped stories. Remembeeed our second skipper, whom it turns out not only the jr enlisted referred to as “Captain Crunch”. He came up as an aviator, not SWO. SO he made lots of junior varsity mistakes resulting in paint scrapes and dents and a collapsed catwalk during UNREP which also planted two high gain antennas into the oilers’ after gun mount and shattered their motor whaleboat. For some reason the Weapons Officer was assigned to take a working party to the Oiler (once we got back) to recover our antennas. Captain Crunch was born.

In my time on the Ponce I grew from a whoring, irresponsible teenager to a responsible sailor. For that experience I am eternally grateful to that ship and to the United States Navy.

Did your rack look impossibly small?

Well Tom, considering my present size, yeah, impossible. Like a walrus inna pipe.

:):)

Missed this one. 8-123-something when I was in #1. 8-143-something in #2, iirc.

8th deck !!! OMG.!!!:eek: You sure had a climb to the mess deck then? And to daylight.:rolleyes: