Sea Control Ship
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 Artist conception (1972) |
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Sea Control Ship (SCS) |
| Builders: | Never built |
| Operators: | United States Navy |
| Cost: | $100 million USD 1973 dollars (est.) |
| Planned: | 8 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | ASW carrier |
| Displacement: | 9,773 tons (light) 13,736 tons (full load) |
| Length: | 620 ft (190 m) |
| Beam: | 80 ft (24 m) |
| Draft: | 21.62 ft (6.59 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × General Electric LM2500+ gas turbines, one shaft, 45,000 shp 3 x 2500 Kw ship service generators (SSG) |
| Speed: | 26 knots (48 km/h) 24 knots (44 km/h) (sustained) |
| Complement: | 76 officers 624 enlisted |
| Armament: | 2 x 20-mm Phalanx CIWS mounts |
| Aircraft carried: | 3 x AV-8A Harrier VTOL 3 x SH-2 Seasprite LAMPS I 14 x SH-3 Sea King |
| Aviation facilities: | Flight deck: 545 x 105 ft. (166.1 x 32 m) Enclosed hangar: 19 ft. (5.8m) high Airraft elevators: 60,000 lb. (27.2 mt) lift capacity • Centerline: 60 x 30 ft. (18.3 x 9.1 m) • Stern: 35 x 50 ft. (10.7 x 15.4 m) JP-5 fuel capacity: 950 tons (861.8 mt) Aviation ordance: 180 tons (163 mt) |
The Sea Control Ship (SCS) was a small aircraft carrier developed and conceptualized by the United States Navy under Chief of Naval Operations Elmo Zumwalt during the 1970s. Currently the term refers to naval vessels that can perform similar duties.[1] The SCS was intended as an escort vessel, providing air support for convoys. It was the result of budgetary cuts the US Navy faced at the time.
The SCS was to be equipped with a mix of Rockwell XFV-12 fighter aircraft and anti-submarine warfare helicopters.[2] It was tasked with carrying out anti-submarine warfare operations.
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[edit] Experimental Sea Control Ship
In 1971, the USS Guam, was chosen as a test vessel. Testing began on January 18th, 1972. In 1974 she was deployed to the Atlantic Ocean as part of the US Marine Corps. The vessel was equipped with AV-8A Harrier STOVL fighters and Sea King ASW helicopters. The tests were completed in July 1974; the USS Guam resumed its role as an amphibious assault ship.
[edit] Ships built following the SCS concept
The SCSs were smaller than most fleet aircraft carriers, and the concept was seized upon by nations wanting cheap aircraft carriers. Spain's flagship, Principe de Asturias (R11), and her smaller cousin ship, Thailand's HTMS Chakri Naruebet, were based on the final US Navy blueprints for a dedicated sea control ship, but with the addition of a ski-jump ramp and follow a similar mission profile. As currently configured, the Italian aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi (551) would also fit under the SCS description. A STOVL flight deck equipped Spruance class destroyer with Harriers for air cover was seriously considered in the 1970s for the SCS but in the end rejected by the US Navy and Congress.
The British Invincible class began life separately from the Elmo Zumwalt SCS design and has its origins in a sketch design for a 6,000 ton, guided-missile armed, helicopter carrying escort cruiser intended as a complement to the much larger CVA-01-class fleet aircraft carrier.[3] The cancellation of CVA-01 in 1966 meant that the smaller cruiser would now have to provide the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) taskforce with command and control facilities. A 17,500 ton vessel was chosen with a "through-deck", nine Sea Kings and missiles right forward. By 1970, the "through-deck" design had advanced into a Naval Staff Requirement for an 18,750 ton Through-Deck Command Cruisers (TDCC).[3] In May 1975, the British Government authorised the maritime version of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier,[3][4] which was successfully developed into the Sea Harrier. This meant that the design was reworked again to include a small complement of these VTOL aircraft. In order to launch a heavily-laden Harrier more efficiently by STOVL (short take-off vertical landing) from the comparatively short - 170 m - flight deck, a 'ski-jump' was developed.
The Soviet Kiev class aircraft carriers had a similar mission, but were much bigger as they were effectively an SCS and a heavy missile cruiser combined into one hull. The Kiev class was equipped with twelve short ranged defensive Yakovlev Yak-38 STOL fighters and sixteen Kamov Ka-25 or Kamov Ka-27 ASW helicopters which operated from an angled flight deck. The forward deck was filled with eight large P-500 Bazalt surface to surface missiles for land and sea strike missions as well as torpedo launchers and strong layered missile and gun anti-aircraft defenses.
In January, 1969, contacts between the US Navy and the team in charge of the V/STOL “Harrier” at the Hawker Sidley plant in Dunsfold were the conceptual origin of a carrier for this kind of airplane, without catapults and with shorter runways. Thus a ship was proposed not for nuclear conflicts but for ground attack from the littoral and sea interdiction. It was not well received among circles in the US Navy that promoted a heavier aircraft carrier type during the Cold War.
[edit] Ships with secondary SCS mission
Ships that can be used for secondary SCS missions include many modern amphibious carriers, such as the U.S. Tarawa and Wasp classes. All of these ships typically operate STOVL/VTOL fighter/attack aircraft and some have also operated as light carriers in both of the Persian Gulf operations after unloading and deploying the Marine ground forces equipment (e.g. tanks, armored vehicles, landing craft), troop, and cargo helicopters of their primary amphibious assault mission. The Spanish ship Juan Carlos I will also split its duties between amphibious assault and SCS/aircraft carrier work.
[edit] Falklands War
The only example of a conflict where a SCS-type ship played a large part was the Falklands War in 1982. Unable to acquire full-size carriers due to political opposition, Britain had procured Invincible class "through-deck cruisers" to keep sea lanes clear of Soviet submarines and patrol aircraft. In this mission they typically carried four to five Sea Harriers and nine Sea Kings for anti-submarine warfare. When Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes were filled to capacity with Harrier and Sea Harrier fighter aircraft to recover the islands. The Sea Harriers shot down 21 Argentine aircraft in air-to-air combat with no air-to-air losses, although two Sea Harriers were lost to ground fire and four to accidents.[5]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Sea Control Ship - GlobalSecurity.org
- ^ XFV-12 - GlobalSecurity.org
- ^ a b c Vanguard to Trident; British Naval Policy since World War II, Eric J. Grove, The Bodley Head, 1987, ISBN 0-370-31021-7
- ^ Warships of the Royal Navy, Capt. John E. Moore RN, Jane's Publishing, 1981, ISBN 0-7106-0105-0
- ^ One of Our Aircraft is Missing, Britains-smallwars.com.
[edit] Suggested Reading
- Friedman, Norman (1985). U.S. Aircraft Carriers: an Illustrated Design History. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-8702-1739-9.
- Mullane, USN, Lt. Cmdr. Paul N. (March 1973). "Sea Control". Naval Aviation News: 42–43. http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1970s/1972/mar72.pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
