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Sea Shadow (IX-529)
Encyclopedia
Sea Shadow (IX-529) is an experimental stealth ship
built by Lockheed
for the United States Navy
to determine how a low radar profile might be achieved and to test high stability hull configurations which have been used in oceanographic ships.
on naval vessels. In addition, the ship was designed to test the use of automation
to enable the reduction of crew size. The ship was created by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA), the U.S. Navy and Lockheed
. Sea Shadow was developed at Lockheed's Redwood City, California
facility, inside the Hughes Mining Barge
, which functioned as a floating drydock during construction and testing. She is sometimes referred to as "USS Sea Shadow"; however, this designation is inappropriate as she was never a fully commissioned ship of the U.S. Navy.
hull design. Below the water are submerged twin hulls, each with a propeller, aft stabilizer, and inboard hydrofoil
. The portion of the ship above water is connected to the hulls via the two angled struts. The SWATH design helps the ship remain stable even in very rough water of up to sea state
6 (wave height of 18 feet (5.5 m) or "very rough" sea). The shape of the superstructure has sometimes been compared to the casemate
of the ironclad ram of the American Civil War
.
The T-AGOS 19-and-23-class oceanographic ships have inherited the stabilizer and canard method to help perform their stability-sensitive surveillance missions.
Sea Shadow has only 12 bunks aboard, one small microwave oven
, a refrigerator
and table. It was never intended to be mission capable and was never commissioned, although she is listed in the Naval Vessel Register
.
Sea Shadow was revealed to the public in 1993, and was housed at the San Diego Naval Station until September 2006, when it was relocated with the HMB-1 - inside which it still resides - to the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet
in Benicia, CA
. The vessels are available for donation to a maritime museum.
Sea Shadow was also the inspiration for the stealth ship in the James Bond
film Tomorrow Never Dies
.
Since 2006 the U.S Navy has tried to give the Sea Shadow away but as of February 2009 nobody has taken the offer.
Not having found any viable offer to take in the Sea Shadow by June 18th, 2011, the Navy finally decided to set it for "dismantling and recycling".
As of June 2011 the Sea Shadow is still being stored inside its barge at Suisun Bay awaiting its fate.
Stealth ship
A stealth ship is a ship which employs stealth technology construction techniques in an effort to ensure that it is harder to detect by one or more of radar, visual, sonar, and infrared methods...
built by Lockheed
Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...
for the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
to determine how a low radar profile might be achieved and to test high stability hull configurations which have been used in oceanographic ships.
Development
Sea Shadow was built in 1984 and used in secret but normal service until her public debut in 1993, to examine the application of stealth technologyStealth technology
Stealth technology also termed LO technology is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive electronic countermeasures, which cover a range of techniques used with personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, and missiles, to make them less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection...
on naval vessels. In addition, the ship was designed to test the use of automation
Automation
Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...
to enable the reduction of crew size. The ship was created by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technology for use by the military...
(DARPA), the U.S. Navy and Lockheed
Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...
. Sea Shadow was developed at Lockheed's Redwood City, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
facility, inside the Hughes Mining Barge
Hughes Mining Barge
The Hughes Mining Barge, or HMB-1, is a submersible barge about 99 m long, 32 m wide, and more than 27 m tall...
, which functioned as a floating drydock during construction and testing. She is sometimes referred to as "USS Sea Shadow"; however, this designation is inappropriate as she was never a fully commissioned ship of the U.S. Navy.
Overview
Sea Shadow has a SWATHSmall Waterplane Area Twin Hull
A Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull, better known by the acronym SWATH, is a twin-hull ship design that minimizes hull cross section area at the sea's surface. Minimizing the ship's volume near the surface area of the sea, where wave energy is located, maximizes a vessel's stability, even in high...
hull design. Below the water are submerged twin hulls, each with a propeller, aft stabilizer, and inboard hydrofoil
Hydrofoil
A hydrofoil is a foil which operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to airfoils.Hydrofoils can be artificial, such as the rudder or keel on a boat, the diving planes on a submarine, a surfboard fin, or occur naturally, as with fish fins, the flippers of aquatic mammals, the...
. The portion of the ship above water is connected to the hulls via the two angled struts. The SWATH design helps the ship remain stable even in very rough water of up to sea state
Sea state
In oceanography, a sea state is the general condition of the free surface on a large body of water—with respect to wind waves and swell—at a certain location and moment. A sea state is characterized by statistics, including the wave height, period, and power spectrum. The sea state varies with...
6 (wave height of 18 feet (5.5 m) or "very rough" sea). The shape of the superstructure has sometimes been compared to the casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
of the ironclad ram of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
The T-AGOS 19-and-23-class oceanographic ships have inherited the stabilizer and canard method to help perform their stability-sensitive surveillance missions.
Sea Shadow has only 12 bunks aboard, one small microwave oven
Microwave oven
A microwave oven is a kitchen appliance that heats food by dielectric heating, using microwave radiation to heat polarized molecules within the food...
, a refrigerator
Refrigerator
A refrigerator is a common household appliance that consists of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump that transfers heat from the inside of the fridge to its external environment so that the inside of the fridge is cooled to a temperature below the ambient temperature of the room...
and table. It was never intended to be mission capable and was never commissioned, although she is listed in the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
.
Sea Shadow was revealed to the public in 1993, and was housed at the San Diego Naval Station until September 2006, when it was relocated with the HMB-1 - inside which it still resides - to the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet
National Defense Reserve Fleet
The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...
in Benicia, CA
Benicia, California
Benicia is a waterside city in Solano County, California, United States. It was the first city in California to be founded by Anglo-Americans, and served as the state capital for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at the 2010 census. The city is located in the San...
. The vessels are available for donation to a maritime museum.
Sea Shadow was also the inspiration for the stealth ship in the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film Tomorrow Never Dies
Tomorrow Never Dies
Tomorrow Never Dies is the eighteenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Bruce Feirstein wrote the screenplay, and it was directed by Roger Spottiswoode. It follows Bond as he tries to stop a media mogul from engineering...
.
Since 2006 the U.S Navy has tried to give the Sea Shadow away but as of February 2009 nobody has taken the offer.
Not having found any viable offer to take in the Sea Shadow by June 18th, 2011, the Navy finally decided to set it for "dismantling and recycling".
As of June 2011 the Sea Shadow is still being stored inside its barge at Suisun Bay awaiting its fate.
See also
- Littoral Combat ShipLittoral combat shipA Littoral Combat Ship is a type of relatively small surface vessel intended for operations in the littoral zone . It is "envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals." Two ship classes are the first...
, one of the descendants of Sea Shadow. - Sea FighterSea FighterSea Fighter is an experimental littoral combat ship under development by the United States Navy. Its hull is of a small-waterplane-area twin-hull design, provides exceptional stability, even on rough seas. The ship can operate in both blue and littoral waters...
- Sea SliceSea SliceHSV Sea Slice is an experimental United States Navy vessel, built by Lockheed Martin. Based on a variant of the SWATH hull design known as "SLICE", the Sea Slice is characterized by four teardrop-shaped submerged hulls, double the number seen on most previous designs...
- La Fayette class frigateLa Fayette class frigateThe La Fayette class units are light multi-mission frigates built by DCN and operated by French Marine Nationale...
- HMS SmygeHMS SmygeHMS Smyge was an experimental ship of the Swedish Navy used to test stealth technology. Experiences from the Smyge were used while planning the Visby class corvettes. Today Smyge is used for training at the Swedish Navy Academy-External links:*...
- Visby class corvetteVisby class corvetteThe Visby is the latest class of corvette to be adopted by the Royal Swedish Navy after the Göteborg and the Stockholm class corvettes. The ship's design heavily emphasizes "low visibility" or stealth technology. The first ship in the class is named after Visby, the main city on the island of Gotland...
- Braunschweig class corvetteBraunschweig class corvetteThe K130 Braunschweig class is Germany's newest class of ocean-going corvettes. They supplement the Gepard class fast attack craft that are currently used.-Technical details:...
- Milgem class corvetteMilgemThe MİLGEM project, from the Turkish words Milli Gemi , is a Turkish national warship program, the purpose of which is to build a modern littoral combat warship with indigenous anti-submarine warfare and high-seas patrol capabilities, extensively using the principles of stealth technology in its...
- F125 class frigateF125 class frigateF125 is the project name for the Type 125 Baden-Württemberg class of frigates, currently in development for the German Navy by ARGE F125, a joint-venture of Thyssen-Krupp and Lürssen...
- Sachsen class frigateSachsen class frigateThe F124 Sachsen class is Germany's latest class of highly advanced air-defense frigates. The design of the Sachsen class frigate is based on that of the F123 Brandenburg class but with enhanced stealth features intended to deceive any opponent's radar and acoustic sensors and incorporate also the...
- De Zeven Provinciën class frigateDe Zeven Provinciën class frigateThe De Zeven Provinciën class frigates are highly advanced air-defence and command frigates in service with the Koninklijke Marine . This class of ships is also known as LCF...
- Skjold class
- Type 45 DestroyerType 45 destroyerThe United Kingdom's Type 45 destroyer is an air defence destroyer programme of the Royal Navy which will replace its Type 42 destroyers. The first ship in the class, HMS Daring, was launched on 1 February 2006 and commissioned on 23 July 2009. The ships are now built by BAE Systems Surface Ships...
External links
- Navy news article
- Sea Shadow
- "The Navy Has a Top-Secret Vessel It Wants to Put on Display" by Barry Newman - Wall Street Journal - February 24, 2009
- HNSA Virtual Tour of Sea Shadow and HMB-1