shawa
CNO
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004
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 Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 2:35 pm Post subject: This Lady Is A High-Tech Killer |
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| Quote: | Sept. 9, 2006, 12:50AM
This Texas lady is a high-tech killer
By MIKE TOLSON
GALVESTON — The long, black cylinder sits baking at water's edge in the oppressive coastal heat, its upwardly protruding wedge making it instantly recognizable as a machine not to be trifled with.
A raft of images comes to mind: tense moments of confrontation with the enemy inspired by a score of old movies and television shows. The sonar operator makes contact. The captain orders the ship to periscope depth. Everyone in the crowded command center watches the depth gauge. Finally, he climbs a few steps up to the conning tower, pushes a button and a sleek metal pole rises toward the surface.
Wait a minute ... wrong sub. That's your father's submarine, the USS Cavalla, permanently berthed a few miles away at Galveston's Seawolf Park.
This dark tube is the latest and greatest the U.S. Navy has to offer: a $2.7 billion, state-of-the-art, fast-attack sub bearing a nuclear power plant, a formidable array of weapons and every electronic bell and whistle imaginable.
But no periscope. That has been replaced by a "photonic mast," essentially a fancy digital camera that displays what it sees on a large screen. An operator moves the camera with a joystick. Submarine movies will never be the same.
The 377-foot SSN 775, to be formally commissioned as the USS Texas in a dockside ceremony this morning, is to the diesel electric subs of yore as today's F-16 is to the P-51 Mustang that battled over the skies of Europe. Both have lethal potential, but ....
Cont'd Houston Chronicle |
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“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” (Thomas Paine, 1776) |
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