I flew into the US Navy's most versatile ship and spent 3 nights onboard. It’s not an aircraft
carrier, a cruiser or a submarine. It’s a ship that probably most people have not even heard of.
This is a San Antonio-class amphibious assault ship, and I did fly into it,
but not on an MV-22 Osprey. I flew into the belly of this beast … on a hovercraft!
The amount of design elements incorporated throughout this
ship is insane. From mundane things that you wouldn’t even think of,
like how much force should be required to open and close the doors? To curious things,
like why are all the handrails mounted crooked? We’ll explain all that and much more.
But why this ship sometimes puts on a light show, how bringing women onboard surface
combatants made things much more comfortable for men, and why the Navy is downgrading the
future iteration of this class by designing it to be less capable, is Not What You Think!
With a displacement of 25,000 tons, San Antonio class ships are the largest US warships, well,
besides those ships that have a flight deck from bow to stern, such as supercarriers
and some amphibious assault ships. Also known as Landing Platform Dock
or LPD-17 class, these ships have a massive flight deck that accommodates the operation of two MV-22
Ospreys near simultaneously, which I got to witness first-hand. Ospreys are pretty loud,
so everyone was wearing earplugs. The ship also carries 319,000 gallons of aircraft fuel,
which is about half the volume of an Olympic-size swimming pool.
Another key feature is the large well deck that can house two Landing Craft Air Cushions or LCACs,
or one Landing Craft Utility, also known as LCU. There are multiple vehicle decks with
over 38,000 square feet of space to store a variety of amphibious assault vehicles.
But the particular ship that I’m on, is much more unique, because it’s made of something
very special. 7.5 tonnes of steel from the rubbles of the World Trade Center were actually
melted and casted into the ship’s bow during its construction. This is USS New York, a ship that
was named in honor of the victims of the September 11 attacks in New York City. And to bring it full
circle, the ship is sailing from Norfolk to New York City to celebrate Veterans Days 2023.
One of the really cool things about this class of ships is their stealthy design. On radar,
San Antonio ships look smaller than they actually are. This stealth capability is
due to the slope that is prevalent throughout the ship’s design, starting with these two
giant masts. These ships were the first to incorporate the Advanced Enclosed Mast
system. Two giant structures in the middle of the ship house communications and radar
antennas while keeping the ships radar cross section to the minimum. We actually brought
a bag of popcorn kernels onboard to put inside the mast and see if they would pop,
but unfortunately we couldn’t test it. We were told the radiation was too powerful
up inside the mast, but we were reassured that we could indeed make popcorn if we could go in.
The towers are made of special material that permits the ship's own sensor frequencies
with very low loss while reflecting other frequencies. But notice how each side of the
mast is slanted upward. This way, any external signals that are reflected back bounce upward,
instead of going straight back, reducing the amount of signals that radar receivers
would pick up, which in turn minimizes the ship’s radar cross section. Interestingly,
this upward slant design was everywhere on the exterior of the ship. For example, all the doors
on the inside are installed vertically as you’d expect, but exterior doors are all slanted. The
railings on the perimeter of the ship are also installed at an angle. Even the steps on the
ladders follow the same principle, and of course the sides of ship’s the hull are no exception.
Switching from the exterior design to the interior, USS New York is also a floating
museum. This metal plaque that now bears the name of the ship was salvaged from the ruins of
the World Trade Center, and installed on the ship. USS New York, and her sister ships, USS Arlington
and the USS Somerset, are floating museums that have many references to New York City.
And just like the marines that they carry, these ships are the Swiss Army knife of the US Navy.
It’s true that San Antonio-class LPDs have been involved in missions like recovering
NASA’s Orion spacecraft from the ocean in 2022, and also transporting captured terrorists from
the Middle East to the United States for trial. But the primary mission of these
ships is to take 800 Marines and their equipment close to their destination,
and then transport them to land with the help of landing craft and various aircraft operated
by the US Marine Corp. There are also 360 sailors on board who take care of everything on the ship.
San Antonio ships could go underway as part of a 3-ship Amphibious Ready Group,
or they could sail alone, which is why LPDs are equipped with two RIM 116 RAM missile launchers
for point-defense against anti-ship missiles. Each launcher sits on a set of giant springs
that act as shock absorbers. This ship is not equipped with surface-to-surface missiles,
but it could carry a HIMARS. This was in fact tested on USS Anchorage in 2017,
where missiles were launched right off the flight deck of the ship.
Remember those Ospreys? It just so happened that one of them stayed on the flight deck
of USS New York and got folded up, so the next morning, I had the opportunity to check her out.
Without any cargo onboard, Ospreys can transport 24 Marine combat troops,
which is what these seats are for. Where the Osprey really shines,
is long range vertical assault and extraction. It is faster and has a longer range than any
existing military helicopter, and, it can hover, something that airplanes cannot do.
Even though Ospreys can fly horizontally, they can’t land horizontally like an airplane does,
because their rotor blades have a diameter of 38.1 feet,
so big that the blades would hit the ground before the landing gear does!
See that at the tip of the blade? It’s an LED light that can be turned on at night. This makes
it easier to see the perimeter of the blades as they spin. It’s purely for safety, which is
especially useful when two Ospreys are operating in proximity on this flight deck at night.
Given the primary mission of LPDs, there are also a number of design features specifically
with marines in mind. There is a 124-bed state-of-the-art hospital on board the ship,
equipped with X-ray machines and 2 operating rooms. LPDs have much larger
hospitals compared to aircraft carriers and that’s because marines are at a much
higher risk of injury due to the nature of their job. Even the dining tables in the
officers' mess hall are large, so if needed, they could be used as makeshift hospital beds.
If you’ve ever been on any naval ship, you’d know they have quite narrow hallways and
LPDs are no exception. But! The passageways that lead to the flight deck are much wider,
so Marines with all their gear could be on standby in these hallways before they are transported to
shore on Ospreys. This wide passageway is pretty special, which is why every LPD has a unique
name for it. On USS Fort Lauderdale, it’s called I-95, named after the highway that goes south to
the city of Fort Lauderdale. I’m onboard USS New York, and here, the passageway is called
Broadway. The walls are decorated with dozens of posters from Broadway shows. And not just that,
they even have the Broadway lights, but these lights are not for show!
San Antonio ships can house 2 LCACs at the same time. When
an LCAC approaches to enter the ship, the stern gate opens up,
but the LCAC and the ship first need to communicate on when the craft can go in.
“Green Well” means the ship would not be maneuvering, so the LCAC can safely go in.
But aside from radio, the LPDs can also use these green blinking lights,
in addition or as a backup to the “Green Well” signal on the radio.
LCACs are cushioned monsters. For reference, I’m 6’3”. They can go from sitting to hovering
in less than 2 seconds, and are quite fast and maneuverable. The sand blowing into my face as
the LCAC turns gives you an idea about the amount of thrust that its giant propellers generate. And
for anyone who is suspicious, LCACs really do hover. I could clearly see through the skirt,
and yes, I did ask for consent before recording her! But what happens if that skirt rips?
Under the skirt there is a smooth and shiny… hull, just like a boat hull.
If the LCAC wants to stay in place in the water for extended periods of time,
she can just shut off her engines, sit down and float just like a boat. But because LCACs
don’t displace any water when they are hovering, they are said to be flying,
and they must turn on blinking lights when operating, just like airplane do.
Besides damage to the LCACs skirt, another common problem is caused by salt which can corrode the
metal, and sand, which can get everywhere and cause problems. To deal with this,
there is a washing station at Little Creek naval base, so when LCACs come back from their mission,
they are rinsed with fresh water. Operating an LCAC might look like fun,
but LCAC pilots are not getting paid to have fun. The toughest part of their job is to get
the vehicle inside the well deck of a moving ship … without scratching it. There is only
about a foot of clearance on either side, so it takes a lot of skill to do this. Once inside,
the LCAC is chained up so the motion of the ocean doesn’t move her around inside the well deck,
and because we just came in, the LCAC needs to be rinsed with fresh water, which is a rare commodity
in the middle of the ocean. This is why the ship is equipped with a reverse osmosis system,
which not only generates the drinking water for those onboard, but also enough water
to wash LCACs and other vehicles as needed. In case you’re wondering, this is not the rock
climbing part of the gym. This guy is placing these large bolts to secure the stern gate.
One thing that I found interesting was that no matter who I talked to, they told me they had
the best job on the ship. It didn’t matter if it was someone who worked on the bridge
and was in charge of navigation, or someone who worked in the most unassuming parts of the ship,
like the steering area, where one has to climb and crawl through tight spaces in
order to check and maintain the hydraulic systems that move the ship’s massive 50,000 lb rudders,
or those who worked in the engine room, located multiple floors below sea level,
where it was hot and noisy. But they were having fun and were proud of their work.
Speaking of pride: “Sure, my name is Richard Othmer and I joined the Navy in 1974”. After
serving in the US Navy, Richie joined the New York City Fire Department and was a firefighter
when 9/11 happened. “Many years later, they were gonna commission the USS New York, and
I happened to be on the commissioning committee” And so Richie, Carl, and two other firefighter
friends, Tom and Georgie, had an idea. “We got together and we picked this piece
of steel from a flange, from an I-beam flange from the World Trade Center, to honor the firemen, the
police, NYPD, FDNY and the port authority police, but also the US Marines and the United States Navy
sailors that were gonna be manning the ship, ‘caused it tied us all together as Americans”
It was really special to run into Richie and hear his story.
“Ironically, it’s 14 years ago to this day that the ship was commissioned,
Nov 7th, 2009, so it’s kind of nice that you guys asked to talk about this today …”
The design of the San Antonio class reflects the realization that in order to accomplish a mission,
quality of life for those onboard is just as critical as the technology they use.
This is why all systems were designed for 90% American male and female population. For example,
the watertight doors were designed to be operated by 25 pounds of force, meaning that the physical
effort to secure the door was within 90% of the physical range of those onboard. Similarly,
the bunk beds are designed to accommodate 90% of the crew. Now, if your height is in
the 96th percentile, which is is 6’3”, you may not be able to lie down as comfortably in the
bunk beds. But don't worry, this class was the first to feature sit-up berthing areas,
which is pretty handy if you want to sit up to read a book or write a letter. Although,
the top bunk doesn’t have the sit-up feature, and that’s what juniors get!
The ratio of showers to troops and heads to troops was also improved on LPDs.
Prior to 1994, women could only serve on support and non-combatant ships,
which is why as soon as women were allowed to serve on the US Navy’s surface combatants,
the quality of life was improved for men, but not for reasons that you might think. At the time,
females had a larger sea bag allowance, which meant they needed to have bigger
lockers. So it was thanks to the ladies, that San Antonio ships were the first
surface combatants designed to have larger lockers for women … and for men.
During night time operations, the bridge lights are kept to the minimum, while only using red
lights, because red dissipates much quicker than white light. One of the things I really got to
appreciate while underway, was the quality of the sky … at night. Out in the ocean far away
from land, there is no light pollution, so the sky is absolutely magnificent. But just imagine
if somebody fell into the water when it's pitch black, except for I didn’t have to imagine it …
It was just a man overboard … drill. So they did a head count to see if anyone’s missing.
To mark the rough location of the man overboard, a light and smoke signaling device was thrown in the
water. The ship then performed a Williamson turn, to pass by the target and simulate a pick up by
divers. We were told that the chance of survival would be over 70% during the day. But at night,
it’s a different story. As you can see, even the light would disappear for a few
seconds behind the swells, let alone a person, making their chances of survival less than 20%.
The San Antonio class is now considered to be reliable and successful, but when the
class initially hit the water, it was off to a rocky start. The first five ships had
issues with engines, pipes cracking and problems with weapons systems, to name a few. So in 2008,
the US Navy assigned a strike team to address these class-wide issues,
which took three years. It wasn’t until the sixth ship that the sea trial went without
any major flaws. As the problems were solved, the US Navy recognized the potential of this class,
and actually increased the number of ships on order, from 11 to 13. That’s all great,
but it doesn’t explain why the Navy is now building the second iteration of this class,
known as Flight II, to be less capable and less survivable than the original Flight I.
Flight II is designed to be a scaled down version of the original San Antonio class,
because it would be replacing older Whidbey Island-class and Harpers Ferry-class Dock Landing
Ships, or LSDs. See, instead of designing a replacement class for the LSD ships from scratch,
and going through all the pains of identifying and fixing the problems that would inevitably come up,
the US Navy decided to take a different approach. The idea was to take the already-mature class of
San Antonio ships, and to remove some of the higher-end features from its design,
in order to make an affordable amphibious truck. Building a new ship on an existing hull is not a
new idea. Ticonderoga cruisers were built on top of the existing Spruance-class destroyer
hull. Similarly, multiple Flights of Arleigh Burke destroyers were built on that same hull.
Some of the features that have been eliminated in the Flight II design include replacing the
iconic enclosed composite masts with traditional ones. Having enclosed masts increases the sail
area of the ship, meaning that when the ship is traveling in winds of greater than 15 knots,
it experiences a twisting effect, which makes it difficult to stay on course, especially when
traveling at lower speed. This could be especially challenging during underway
replenishment, where San Antonio ships’ difficulty with staying on course is
combined with the “suction effect” that all ships experience when moving along in close
proximity to another ship. They just have to be a lot more conservative in their approach.
In addition to replacing the enclosed masts on the Flight II, the hangar would be made smaller
and the size of the hospital would be cut in half. In fact, the state of the art medical facilities
on Flight I were so good that the hull is being considered to replace the US Navy’s two aging
hospital ships: USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort. The kicker is that even after heavily simplifying the
design, Flight II would still be more capable than the ships that it’s going to be replacing.
The experience of sailing on USS New York was an absolute blast! I learned so much new stuff,
but I’m curious, what did you find the most fascinating? Drop us a comment, and if you
want to see more videos like this, please, consider subscribing to Not What You Think!