1307. Weight Control of US Naval Ships at Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Paper

Abstract

Weight control, not merely weight reporting, must be observed on U.S. Naval Ships throughout their service life.
It must be remembered that U.S. Naval Ships must have the ability to perform the mission intended under adverse conditions. Combatant ships are platforms for launching weapons and aircraft. These ships must have adequate stability and reserve buoyancy so that they can success fully launch their weapons and aircraft even under damaged conditions. If an inherent list or trim condition exists, and the ship is unable to correct it, the launching of weapons and aircraft can be greatly impaired. Many amphibious ships must have the ability to beach: their displacement, list, and trim condition must be maintained to insure the completion of their mission. Auxiliary ships which provide support for the fighting navy also have stability problems, such as excessive weight, high vertical center of gravity, list, and trim problems which must be continually monitored.
Providing good working conditions and personal comfort aboard naval ships are important considerations. A ship with a short and rapid period of roll could cause injury to its personnel or hinder ship’s force from performing its duties. By monitoring and controlling stability, ship’s force can more easily perform their intended mission.
Naval shipyards’ weight control responsibility to naval ships is to insure prove the capabilities of a ship. The possibility of helping naval ships ranges widely and some of the actions will be discussed in the paper.
Weight and moment reporting also develops historical data which can be used to monitor changes in weight and moment that occur over a period of years. This data may be used to improve ship design so that needed margins may be planned for future ships and equipment not used by existing ships maybe eliminated in future designs.
This paper will explain how the Norfolk Naval Shipyard implements the Navy’s Weight Control Program in the ship repair and modernization program. It will also explain how our shipyard strives to accomplish more than simply reporting weight and moment changes by trying to improve the stability characteristics of the ships overhauled by this shipyard.