USN, this is retarded.

"The most serious problem is in the USS Independence, a radical trimaran design. It seems that a "dissimilar metals" situation arose when salt water, the aluminum hull and some other metals got into close proximity with each other, and extensive corrosion resulted. Aluminum hulls tend to corrode more than steel, but the problem became so bad with the USS Independence that, 18 months after entering service, it was sent into dry dock for corrosion repairs and design changes to eliminate the problem."

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsurf ... 20212.aspx



Bimetallic corrosion was common knowledge when I was a boot 35 years ago and probably long before that . It seems that lunatics are running the asylum, it makes me sad.

:bash How in the hell did the ship ever get past the design phase?! Or is the problem that the contractors building the ship are not following the design? Any contractor that builds ships should be able to point out these kinds of problems long before they start laying down the keel (or keels in this case).

Here is how this happened...

THE PLAN
In the beginning was the Plan
And then came the Assumptions
And the Assumptions were without form
And the Plan was without substance

And darkness was upon the face of the airmen (or seamen or soldiers or marines)

And they spoke among themselves, saying,
"It is a crock of poop, and it stinketh"

And the airmen went to their NCO's and said,
"It is a pail of dung, and none may abide the odor thereof"

And the NCO's went unto their Lieutenants, saying,
"It is a container of excrement, and it is very strong, such that none may abide by it"

And the Lieutenants went unto their Majors, saying,
"It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide it's strength"

And the Majors spoke among themselves, saying to one another,
"It contains that which aids plant growth, and it is very strong"

And the Majors went unto the Colonels, saying unto them,
"It promotes growth, and it is very powerful"

And the Colonels went unto the General, saying unto him,
"This new plan will actively promote the growth and vigor of the military, with powerful effects"

And the General looked upon the Plan and saw that it was good --

And the Plan became Policy

There was a good documentary on Modern marvels about corrosion and ships. They sometimes use electrical cathodes on ships to help fight it too. There is also a big research facility in Florida testing all this stuff too. Hard to see how this design flaw slipped through.

Kinda ironic that Independence got corroded and needs repairs . . . .

Joe wrote: They sometimes use electrical cathodes on ships to help fight it too.

Yes, Knox class frigates had it. The first one was commissioned in '69.

Computer breath- nice.

Joe wrote: There was a good documentary on Modern marvels about corrosion and ships. They sometimes use electrical cathodes on ships to help fight it too. There is also a big research facility in Florida testing all this stuff too. Hard to see how this design flaw slipped through.

Just so everyone understands all US NAVY ships except things like tugs and PB's etc have cathodic protection systems on them as well as degaussing systems. I know this for a fact, as it was my equipment. These systems have been on US NAVY ships for a long time. This is a system that was used since around WWII

navycpo7 wrote:

Joe wrote: There was a good documentary on Modern marvels about corrosion and ships. They sometimes use electrical cathodes on ships to help fight it too. There is also a big research facility in Florida testing all this stuff too. Hard to see how this design flaw slipped through.

Just so everyone understands all US NAVY ships except things like tugs and PB's etc have cathodic protection systems on them as well as degaussing systems. I know this for a fact, as it was my equipment. These systems have been on US NAVY ships for a long time. This is a system that was used since around WWII

Thought so, just thought I would leave it to a SME.