While conducting a dispute with friends about the Hyūga-class destroyers (16DDH), a product of the IHI Corporation (Japan), on the question: is it a Japanese Mistral or a scaled-down Soviet aircraft-carrying cruiser (TAVKr pr. 1143), gutting the sites of the Japanese in the shipbuilding industry, stumbled upon Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' creation of the Ramform (SSS) W-class vessels, which I never knew or heard of.
Before moving on to them, I can not resist, and I will give a photo of the subject of the dispute itself and a quote from the wiki:
The official classification as a destroyer-helicopter carrier does not correspond to the real combat capabilities of the ship. The ship significantly exceeds in displacement the destroyer-helicopter carriers of the previous types, has a continuous flight deck and a relatively large air group, which allows it to be classified as a light aircraft carrier. Authoritative naval directory Jane's Fighting Ships classifies it as a helicopter carrier [1]
The triangles-ship photos impressed me immediately. These are some funny pepelats.
How to name and classify them at the household level?
Triangular, delta or short ships? Or maybe floating irons?
In 2012, the Norwegian seismic company Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) placed an order for the construction of two (and then a couple more) W-class Ramform vessels. The order was placed with the Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The vessels are members of the Ramform series.
I can assume that the prototype of such an engineering and design approach was the ship "Maryata III", built by the shipbuilding company "Tangen verft" specifically for reconnaissance purposes in such a way that low noise of the mechanisms and movement is ensured. Silence and inconspicuousness are necessary so as not to interfere with the recording of measurements and other hydroacoustic and electronic systems. The vessel is highly stable, which makes it easier for the sensors to operate on this stable platform. In order to achieve high stability of the vessel, it was made in the form of Ramform.
The large width affected the metacentric height of the vessel, which was about 16 meters. The vessel is so "tenacious" that it can continue to function even with significant damage to a part of the inner set. Naturally, the "northern package" is also present: prolonged exposure to low temperatures or large amounts of water / ice on the deck are not any significant problem.
The ship is equipped so that it can operate in the northern polar regions without interruption for a very long period of time.
FS Marjata is a long-range sonar observation and reconnaissance vessel built for the Norwegian Navy back in the 90s specifically to participate in the ELINT project.
The main area of activity of the Norwegian Navy reconnaissance ship "Marjata III" is located between 34 - 36 degrees east longitude - an area located in the immediate vicinity of the border of the territorial waters of Russia. More precisely, only about 30-40 kilometers (less than 20 miles) from the coast of the Kola Peninsula.
With the capabilities of the electronics, which is equipped with "Maryata III", reconnaissance can be carried out at a distance of 20 to 500 kilometers, depending on the location of the target. Thanks to the widespread introduction of automation equipment, the ship's crew consists of 14 people. Another 31 people are "scientists" who, in fact, are engaged in the collection of intelligence information and maintain equipment.
According to some sources, these electronics specialists are citizens of the United States and serve in the United States National Security Agency (NSA), which is engaged in electronic espionage around the world. But if this is not so, then the essence of their activities does not change. All received information is transmitted online to the NSA.
The insides of "Maryata" are literally stuffed with expensive electronic stuffing and intelligence innovations.
In the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy, almost all Russian sailors are familiar with her and even gave her diminutive nicknames such as "Masha", "Marusya" and even "iron", because of its similarity to this household item.
[3]
I won't be mistaken if I say that this is a real headache for our Northern Fleet and the Navy as a whole. work.
However, it soon became clear that this project was significantly more expensive than anticipated.
Returning to Ramform, it can be noted that the appearance of these vessels cannot be confused with anything, it is strikingly different from other geophysical vessels
As PGS notes, the SSS Ramforms are the most powerful and efficient marine seismic vessels ever built. They are also the widest.
These vessels bring together all of GeoStreamer's most advanced marine technology and marine seismic capabilities.
The stern of the vessel, 70 m wide, is equipped with 24 drums with seismic streamers. They can pull a network of seismic streams, covering an area of more than 12 km2(equivalent to 1,500 soccer fields or three and a half Central Parks in New York).
The increased work space and unique equipment make ship-assisted operations safer and more functional.
For both PGS and its customers, faster deployment and retrieval of equipment and extended stay at sea mean faster completion of seismic surveys and increased uptime in adverse weather conditions. This also affects the cost of seismic exploration and its safety.
The vessels have an autonomy of 120 days without refueling, they are all-weather. The interval between calls at the port for service can be increased by another 50%.
In November 2015, the Ramform Titan, when filming in the Bay of Bengal, set a kind of record
18 seismic streamers were involved, each 7.05 km long, with a distance of 100 m between them. All together they formed a strip 1.7 km wide, and the total area of the network was 15.6 km2.
For the first time, a seismic survey of this volume was carried out from one vessel.
The vessel takes on board over 6 thousand tons of fuel and equipment. When conducting exploration, it tows a network of several hundred thousand seismic sensors.
The SSS Ramform ships provide a safe and comfortable living and working environment for 80 crew members. There are 60 single cabins on board, as well as 10 double visitor cabins with separate bathrooms.
The Ramform type is distinguished by its unusual Δ-shaped hull in plan with a wide stern.
The ships themselves sail under the Flag of the Bahamas, like their many "brethren", who tend to save on taxation and port dues.
For more information on the technical characteristics of the Titan-class Ramform vessels, please refer to the infographic posted on the PGS website.
The fourth Titan-class ship, the Ramform Hyperion, is due to be launched in 2017.
The video from the PGS website gives an idea of the concept, application and prospects of such vessels:
The fleet to beat
Ramform Titan - Instrument Room
Ramform Titan In Operation
Ship live video: Camilla Aadland = Ramform Titan visited Bergen[6]
Returning to the Japanese shipbuilding industry (and MHI in particular, where the Ramform-class ships were built and are being built), I will quote:
Japanese ships can be distinguished by the perfect condition of their decks and sides. Beauty is achieved in two ways:
- traditional Japanese neatness and attention to detail;
- extremely young age, which for many ships does not exceed 10 years.
- [5]
[2]
Not only perfect cleanliness on the deck, but also a recognizable, interesting design, combined with Japanese frugality, functionality and, of course, Japanese poetry.
Moreover, this is inherent not only in warships, but also in completely civilian ships: August 9, 2014 - The Diamond Princess visited Vladivostok.[4]
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Original sources, links and citations:
