At least when we were stopped and doing differential turns - you were stopped, right, KGB?
Forward speed of approximately 5-8 knots, rudder full left, port engine back two thirds, starboard engine ahead full, indicate 9 9 9 revolutions for maneuvering combinations. The Con had us spinning circles around a killer tomato for the shooting satisfaction of the crew serves and the amusement of civilians on board for a tiger cruise. We were sliding sideways quite a bit, but that was the indicated forward speed. The Wasp's make an odd up and down bouncing motion as they slide sideways through the water. Probably could have turned it a bit tighter if we were willing to damage the screw shafts and rudders a bit (hard rudder, back full port, ahead flank starboard).
The wasp class is a good group of ships, (thread digression), what did you like/dislike about them? (I do consulting from time to time for the navy on advanced concepts and am always looking for info from those who served on various ships)
They should have been designed for a much higher top speed for their intended purpose (quick interdiction of marine forces in unwelcome locales), not to mention that we were generally running without so much as an FFG for escort. A slightly longer hull (say 100'), a nuclear plant, and improved screws would make these ships far more versatile than they currently are.
I would also suggest as a general statement, an improvement in the reloading evolution for the RAM and Sea-Sparrow launchers. The Ram launchers in particular required a major action by a significant number of sailors to get reloaded, including setting up complex scaffolding for the purpose. An idea perhaps for the Sea-Sparrows could be a reloading system similar to the old bandit launchers with the octal box launcher going vertical and having the missiles driven upwards into the launch tubes in quick order.
The hurricane bow also caused problems for crew served weapons. None of the heavy emplacements are able to cover the 11 to 1 o'clock positions so we have to improvise by placing GPMG's (which are more or less just laid in place) in the forecastle bow line hatches. Having pintle mounts affixed in those locations for heavier armament such as Mk-44's would go a long way to improving the forward close in defenses, better yet though would be mounts located at the port and starboard bow corners of the 01 level for .50's where portions of the hurricane bow could be opened up to allow them to train forward and to the sides and then be closed up again for foul weather.
A couple sets of big-eyes mounted on the fantail would greatly help the aft look outs, as it is, only the forward lookout has a set (one on each side of the super structure).
The mating blocks on the stern gate for conducting operations with LCU's (especially Army LCU's which have a forward structure that prevents them from actually entering the welldeck) need to be designed so the ramp of the mating LCU can not slip up and over them. When in Souda Bay we had one such Army LCU docked to the sterngate when a rogue wave lifted it up off those blocks and drove it forward into the well deck. The forward structure of the LCU struck the fantail causing damage to both.
The approach signal light system for LCAC's that hangs from the fantail needs to be repositioned further underneath the fantail. It's current position puts it in conflict with the stern mooring lines. Ours was damaged both by the mooring lines taking tension and pressing against it's frame, and also mooring lines snagging on it's corners and twisting it's frame as the lines were taken to power on the capstans.
We never used the mono-rail cargo trams in the welldeck and upper vehicle stowage during the two years (and one deployment) I was on board for. I'm sure they have a purpose, I'm just not sure what it is other than to take up valuable overhead space.
There should be a weatherproof mounting on the RHIB and LCPL davits for trickle chargers to keep the batteries topped off. The Enginemen I spoke with complained often about drained down starter batteries on the small boats when they would go long periods without use. This required them (with our current setup) to go through the maintenance evolution of pulling out the batteries and hauling them down to their shop for recharging.
The upper vehicle stowage loading door vestibule needs it's own overboard discharge with one way butterfly valve. We had wave action swamp the port one when the outer door was left ajar to assist with ventilation during LCAC ops. We had to manually arrange a siphon hose to drain most of the water and then complete the dewatering with swabs and buckets.
*twiddle* I'm sure I can think of more stuff. Let me know if you're interested.
Oh, something really liked: The well-equipped on-board bakery. Having such things as oven-fresh glazed rolls with your dinner or loaves of bread not ever older than 2 days was absolutely awesome. Also having a full salad bar available on the mess deck was great, especially if you didn't have time, or didn't want to wait in the chow line, or just wanted something green and fresh for a change.
