Chapter 8 Ship/Aircraft Characteristics

CHAPTER 8 SHIP/AIRCRAFT CHARACTERISTICS The U.S. Navy has thousands of vessels and aircraft in its inventory. They range from small harbor patrol boats to huge super carriers and from helicopters to giant transport planes. You won’t be expected to know the characteristics of each one, but you should be able to recognize the type of ship or aircraft you see. You should also be able to identify its mission and armament and have an idea about its size. In this chapter, you’ll learn about the major classes and the major types of ships and aircraft the Navy operates and what their characteristics and missions are. You will also learn some of the more common terms used to identify structural features and the terminology used to express direction and locations aboard ship. Before you learn about the types and classes of ships, you need some background information about ships in general. To take advantage of scientific advances, the fleet is making changes. Cruise missiles, close-in defense systems, and multirole radar units are replacing conventional electronic and weapons systems. The Navy’s new submarines and aircraft carriers are nuclear-powered. Therefore, steaming endurance is limited only by the replenishment of necessary supplies and food. Many ships have been modernized to perform a wide variety of missions and to accomplish old missions more efficiently. During overhaul, older ships are outfitted with new radar, fire control, and communications systems. The hulls are strengthened and power plants reworked to extend the lives of these ships. However, it’s not economically sound to convert all ships to nuclear power. SHIP TERMS Learning Objectives: When you finish this chapter, you will be able to— Identify terms used aboard ship. Recall the names used for superstructures and components of ship’s hulls to include decks and doors and hatches. Identify structural terms. In civilian life you used terms such as upstairs, downstairs, windows, floors, ceilings, walls, and hallways. In the Navy, you must learn to use Navy language. To use civilian terminology aboard ships marks you as a landlubber—a scornful term used to describe those who know nothing of the sea. GENERAL TERMS Lengthwise direction on a ship is fore and aft; crosswise is athwartships. The front of the ship is the bow; the rearmost is the stern. To move forward toward the bow is to go forward; to move toward the stern is to go aft. Anything that is more toward the bow than another object is forward of it, and anything that is more toward the stern is abaft (behind) the other object. A ship is divided in half lengthwise by a centerline. When you face forward along the centerline, everything to your right is to starboard; everything to your left is to port. Fixtures and equipment take the name of the side on which they are located, such as the starboard gangway and the port anchor. When you go toward the centerline, you go inboard. An object nearer the centerline is inboard of another object and that object is outboard of the first. The section around the midpoint area is called amidships (also called the waist). The extreme width of a ship, usually in the midship area, is its beam. 8-1 This ship is built to fight. You’d better know how. —Admiral Arleigh Burke The air fleet of an enemy will never get within striking distance of our coast as long as our aircraft carriers are able to carry the preponderance of air power to the sea. —Rear Admiral W. A. Moffett