Observing the Commentary From USS Freedom

The best live blogging on the internet is currently on Navy Times.

For those of you in Michigan wondering if the USS Freedom (LCS 1) was coming your way, she made an unscheduled port stop there just a few hours ago. Might be worth adding to your RSS feed, it has been for me.

For example, you may have missed this part from earlier.

As I write this, the ship is traveling at 40.7 knots; I can hear the gas turbines singing through the bulkhead to my right. I know how fast the ship is traveling because a few minutes ago I was standing on the bridge with the captain, Cmdr. Don Gabrielson, who pointed out the central ship-control station that displays our course, speed, and GPS-fixed navigation.

“Isn’t it cool?” he asked. I agreed. I offered that I had never been aboard any ship that traveled close to this fast.

“I know!” he said. “Let’s see if we can get it to go faster.”

I can already tell I'm going to like Cmdr. Don Gabrielson, this ship needs a CO with a mentality that encourages pushing the ship to its stressing limits. One of the things that catches my attention in reading Phil Ewing's blog today though is how many issues keep popping up when the ship runs at full speed. Look, in my opinion, this being a new ship and all... to me that means you want to run the ship at full speed as often as possible. However, I honestly question how long before the Navy cracks down on the liberty of Cmdr. Don Gabrielson to show off his ship with reporters (or bloggers) on board.

For example, the ship consumed more fuel than expected today sprinting across the Lakes, and apparently had some wear and tear on the engines, but most surprising, this is the kind of thing that 'could' make the some in Navy leadership nervous.

Lake Michigan, though, was being dumped into the Freedom. Just forward of the mess, in the compartments under the forecastle, sailors bailed out the anchor windlass, the ship’s armory and the arms locker. As the ship crashed through the lake at 40 knots, it began shipping water up the hawser pipe, and about 5 feet of water was sloshing around a few compartments by the time the crew noticed it. An unlucky team of sailors in blue coveralls and gloves had to stand on deck handing up blue buckets and emptying them over the side.

I say if you are a nervous Admiral, take a Valium.

This ship is built to work in 15 ft of water and go more than 40 knots in a hostile littoral. Anyone who gets nervous now needs to look towards the 5 ships soon to go to contract, it is too late for USS Freedom (LCS 1). If I was the Navy, I'd ask Cmdr. Don Gabrielson to push this ship as hard as possible without sinking it, because there is a strategic... conceptual vision at work in the characteristics of this ship that is finally being tested and exposed to the real world. Theory is great, I have plenty of theories, but every theory must be tested to be proven right or wrong.

And yes, fresh water trials are important, unless you think it is unlikely we won't send a LCS up a river for any reason. If it was me, I'd plan on that possibility. After all, if Phil is correctly describing the way the ship is currently seen, I'd say the current vision is flawed.

Pentagon planners hope the ship’s high sprint speed and stability will enable it to dash into an area where it suspects there are mines or an enemy submarine, launch its unmanned vehicles, and dash out again, minimizing the amount of time the Freedom spends in harm’s way.

Hmm. No wonder SECNAV was promoting the mini-gator theory, at least is sounds smarter.