Talk:Ohio-class

Speed

The article gives the speed, the figures coming from US Navy website. This appears to be the officially released figure, but the FAS lists the actual speed as 25kt. I would just add that to the article, but the website naval-technology gives a figure of 25+, and Jane's Fighting Ships list it as 24. How do we approach that? David Finn 11:23, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Shall we try to put it in context? There isn't much reason for these boats to be extremely fast, while there is every reason -- with a qualification I shall mention -- for them to be ultraquiet. Contrast their speeds, probably in the mid-20 knots, with the 35 knots or so of an attack boat, and the failed but interesting Soviet ALFA that was probably in the 50 knot range. I don't think we will ever have truly accurate top figures, as these are sensitive.

A limiting factor for submarine speed can be surprising: glue. If they start moving too fast, as in trying to avoid a much faster torpedo, the water drag may tear off the anechoic rubbery tiles surrounding them, which are important to quieting. There are many military situations where there is a top operational speed, and a higher, desperate emergency only, speed that will damage something.

One problem with the Ohios, at least rumors from knowledgeable sources, is that they were so quiet that with good sonars, you could listen for the background noise of the ocean -- and when you found a completely silent spot, that was the Ohio. There are rumors they now have a background noise generator as a defense.

Would you be comfortable by stating the speed is in the mid-twenty-knots range? Howard C. Berkowitz 16:37, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

I might mention that when I had access to the general naval tactical publications, which were classified SECRET, they never gave the maximum speeds or depths of submarines. Howard C. Berkowitz 16:46, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

That makes a lot of sense. I was thinking that the official figure was a kind of official estimate, probably on the low side, but the disparity in the higher figures made me wonder about the accuracy of the other sources. That they are giving an estimate themselves makes it more clear. I must look into how these various sources come by their information. Stating in the article that there is an official speed of 20+ and an estimated speed in the mid-twenties sounds like a good compromise. The idea of a safe maximum and an unsafe maximum is very interesting, but I am sure the official figures for the unsafe maximum don't make it to publication! David Finn 07:25, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Nice catalog

I was too lazy.

It's been a temptation to start at least lemmas for the captains, since they often go to higher command. In general, I've been doing that for admirals in selected slots, such as fleet command, or, in the case of William Gortney most recently, director of the Joint Staff. Every Joint Staff director, of whatever service, in recent memory, went on to four stars. Howard C. Berkowitz 16:45, 23 March 2011 (UTC)