LITTLE CRAPPY SHIPS

 3 August 2025:  

So what happened to July? Hard to believe we're already in August with Autumn looming. Wow! Time really does fly! Some years ago, we wrote in this blog about the introduction of  - at that time - the U.S. Navy' newest creation, the Littoral Combat Ship, and after a careful look at the mission, parameters, and construction, determined that the sobriquet put on these vessels by their crews was apt: Little Crappy Ships. Here, from the website SLASHGEAR, is an update about what the navy is doing to try and save the program. It should be noted, however, that several of these ships have already been retired - scrapped. 

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What's The Controversy With The Littoral Combat Ship? A Brief Look At Its Complicated History

The Littoral Combat Ship was supposed to be the Navy's next big breakthrough — a lightweight, fast, and flexible vessel designed to operate close to shorelines, where larger warships struggled. But nearly two decades in, the program has become one of the most controversial chapters in Navy history. Why? Because it ran over budget, underperformed in combat roles, and many ships were decommissioned long before their expected lifespan. 

 

The Undersecretary of the Navy, Robert Work, described the ship as the "Swiss Army Knife" of the fleet — a platform meant to be quickly adapted for different missions like surface warfare, mine clearance, and anti-submarine operations. But the Navy ended up building two completely different types: the Freedom-class and the Independence-class. That added the requirement for separate crews, parts, and training pipelines. Worse, both designs were based on commercial ferry hulls with little armor, relying on the idea that crews would evacuate if under attack — a risky tradeoff in any combat zone. [ed:Capt James Lawrence ("Don't give up the ship!") was spinning in his grave! Not the Navy I grew up in!]

There were big promises, but the ship didn't deliver        

One of the Littoral Combat Ship's most ambitious features was its modular mission package system. Instead of building separate ships for different roles, the Navy envisioned a single vessel that could be reconfigured for surface warfare, anti-submarine operations, and mine hunting. Each package included a mix of specialized equipment, sensors, and even unmanned systems tailored to its mission. But this flexibility proved more theoretical than practical. For instance, the minehunting package faced reliability issues and broke down easily, while the anti-submarine package struggled with hardware integration and poor acoustic performance. Over time, both were shelved, leaving only the surface warfare package in use. 

 

What made things worse was that the ships were built to run with smaller crews, which meant they needed to be highly automated. But instead of having simple tools to fix problems, many systems were complex and locked behind special software that only private contractors could access. So when something broke, the crew couldn't fix it on their own, and they had to wait for help. On top of that, the Freedom-class ships had repeated engine problems, especially with a part called the combining gear, which connects different engines to the propeller system. These breakdowns were expensive to fix. Things got so bad that the Navy had to pull the entire LCS fleet back in 2016 for retraining after multiple failures and confusion over how to operate the ships properly.

Despite all this, the Navy didn't walk away. It scaled back the program, made upgrades, and started addressing the flaws. As a result, new missiles were added, and even drones were introduced. Ships like the USS Charleston managed to complete record-breaking deployments, showing that there was still potential. The Navy created a dedicated Task Force to focus on improving the ships' reliability. 

Some of the Independence-class ships now operate at 96% efficiency, and as of January 2025, Freedom-class ships have begun receiving new weapon systems, with more upgrades on the way. Recent additions include counter-drone capabilities using Longbow Hellfire missiles, while future upgrades are expected to bring Naval Strike Missiles and Mk 70 launchers capable of firing SM-6 and Tomahawk cruise missiles. So, the Littoral Combat Ships started as a bold idea, which then ran into a wall of reality. That said, the story isn't over. The Navy seems determined to make the most of these ships, learning from the past and trying to build something better moving forward. [ed: we'll see!]

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I surely don't want to be the guy who said, "I told you so..." but there we are. I guess time will tell if the Navy can indeed make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!

Until next time, stay safe.

                                     Fair winds,

                                           Old Salt 

 

BROKEN CROCKERY IDENTIFIES WRECK

 18 July 2025: 

July is half way done and the weather is still pretty squirrelly here in the northeast with serious storms, heat, and humidity. Summer can be exciting at times! For whatever the reason there seem to be a fair number of recreational boats still on the hard, but ours is most assuredly not! Having some lovely excursions between bouts of unkind weather; the cold will be here soon enough and we need to get in as much "water time" as we can. Here's a piece from Fox News about a 140 year old wreck that was recently identified.

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 Ship remained hidden on ocean floor since fatal 1888 collision

Divers recently identified a long-lost ship that capsized almost 140 years ago – all thanks to one broken piece of crockery.

Dominic Robinson, a former British Army officer based in Plymouth, England, identified the wreck as the SS Nantes. The ship was built in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1874.

Robinson, who served as a military helicopter pilot, told Jam Press the vessel collided with the German-flagged Theodor Ruger ship in 1888. 

"It was, when it was sunk, on passage from Liverpool to La Havre, in France, carrying [a] cargo of coal," Robinson told the news agency.

The accident proved deadly, as most of the Nantes' crew died in the English Channel.

 Former British Army officer Dominic Robinson identified the SS Nantes shipwreck, thanks to a broken plate. (Jam Press)

 

"Sadly, pretty much everybody who was on board the Nantes died," Robinson said. 

"It drifted for several hours, before it finally made its way to the bottom, sadly, with many of its crewmen on board."

Robinson noted that three people survived the wreck: two men who jumped onto the Theodor Ruger, and another who stayed on the Nantes and tried to keep the vessel afloat.

"Unfortunately, the Nantes went down about 10 hours later in the early hours of the morning and he was the only person who was picked up from that," the explorer said. 

"It's quite a sad story."

 

The ship remained unseen for almost 140 years. A local dive team came across the wreck last year, but its name was unknown until now.

The key to identifying the ship was a broken plate bearing the logo of the Cunard Line, a historic British cruise line.

Robinson said that, to identify the ship, "you try to find a list of all the Cunard ships that were sunk."

"You then try and narrow them down to, to a relatively small one, and an old one," he said.

 "We obviously know where it sank, so if you can find information about the sinking and the wreck that aligns all those things up, then it's fairly straightforward to identify it."

Thanks to information from the UK Hydrographic Office, the team was also able to verify the length of the Nantes, which measured roughly 260 feet.

 

Ascertaining the wreck's length was crucial to the ship’s identification, along with the Cunard plate.

"Not surprisingly, [the plate] is what gave us the most significant clue," he said.

The discovery comes as marine archaeologists worldwide are unearthing countless shipwrecks every year.

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Sometimes it's the smallest thing that provides the eureka! moment! There are countless stories of dogged research that has led to an important discovery. Well done Dominic Robinson!

Until next time.

                             Fair Winds,      

                                 Old Salt