Touring USS Somerset: Image Heavy

AMP: sci-fi art, regular art, pictures, photos, comics, music, etc.

Moderator: Beowulf

Post Reply
User avatar
Sea Skimmer
Yankee Capitalist Air Pirate
Posts: 37389
Joined: 2002-07-03 11:49pm
Location: Passchendaele City, HAB

Touring USS Somerset: Image Heavy

Post by Sea Skimmer »

Visited LPD-25 USS Somerset at the Philidelphia waterfront yesterday, as she was open for public tours prior to her commissioning ceremony March 1st. Named for the county where flight 93 crashed in PA, though we have had several vessels named USS Somerset before. My camera quality is 2.1 megapixles of doom, and a lot of pictures didn't come out well because of bad lighting or me not giving enough time to focus in the hustle, but a bunch did and are worthy enough of posting. I suggest zooming out some while you view, they look fairly good at say 50% zoom, at least on a 1080p screen as I have in front of me now. Not so good blown up to the whole screen size.

Image
From the city side of I-95, she looms.

Image
And closer, she had marines with rifles on the deck rails and on land along with the USCG on land in the river with two RHIBs mounting machine guns least the dastardly terrorists attack her, or some Philly heroin smugglers decide to upscale.

Image
View from the line, maybe two hundred people where present promptly when they began screening tour groups

Image
Angled hull of doom, and you can see every single stringer in the hull which is just weird and seems like they went a little too far on the lightweight on this class.

Image
Entry onto the main vehicle deck, with LCAC occupied welldeck behind

Image
Amtrack parked for display on main vehicle deck, you could climb into it and I did but my pictures didn’t come out well lighting wise. Also very crowded to get a clear shot as her rear ramp was down but up against the wall.

Image
Ships plaque, one of several. The crew also painted the name of everyone one flight 93 onto some of the girders nearby.

Image
Upper vehicle deck, 27 ton weight limit, signs warning of weight limits are everywhere.

Image
Ramp back down for lighter stuff. Most of the ramps can be moved and turned into more storage decking via cable hoists.

Image
Inch thick super armor hummved door. Glass is three times that.

Image

Tacticool navy fleet invasion forklifts

Image
This is the latest in navy bunking technology, a three high stack instead of four! Oh and 42 of these are in one compartment.

Image
Then it was up to the top of the superstructure after a minor maze of ladders and corridors. Don’t not put metal paint on communications antenna domes! Makes you wonder how many times people did that and made the radios act like a fork in a microwave.

Image
The bridge door

Image

Inner door, making a tiny airlock for the NBC overpressure system

Image
Bow with coast guard patrol RHIB in sight. They had M240s mounted fore and aft but everyone was keeping in the pilothouse to avoid freezing to death. Cold windy day.

Image
Bow RAM and 30mm cannon turret, scenic Camden wasteland in the background.

Image
Windblows based navigation system on the bridge, looking like it was super advanced in 1998 or so.

Image
TV view of the flight deck, several of these were below decks as well in Marine berthing areas.

Image
I reflect well in the surface search-navigation radar display. Radar was off.

Image
USS New Jersey across the river, ships gyro compass on left

Image
RAM

Image
30mm training to engage Philadelphia, they were playing with the RAM and 30mm at times, I later found out because they showed some but not all groups the CIC!

Image
This is on the port side of the bridge, and is the most elaborate system ever for washing windows.

Image
More windows, engine status displays. Four 10,000hp diesels.

Image
Wider shot

Image
Helm control panel, needed more warning labels.

Image
Helm control with ships tiny wheel. Must save more weight! Keeping in mind this ship has titanium watertight doors, okay why not.

Image
Other bridge wing, crew using stealth crane to lift an object that looked very small, our tour guide on the right in navy camo.

Image
Part of the main medical bay with some of the ICU beds. As to be expected on a gator, the ship has a lot of medical space.

Image
Beds for lesser wounded, IIRC 16 of them on the other side of the same compartment as above which had a lot of pipe work, and people, in it preventing a wide shot. Emergency escape oxygen devices on the wall.

Image
One of two spacious operating rooms beside the prior compartment.

Image
The helicopter hanger, which is directly aft of the medical spaces. It had been rigged into a ship souvenir bazaar. I’m not sure why a ship needs its name on eighty different hats but they have them. Today’s super navy can accept credit cards too.

Image
Hanger is not small, two V-22s easily.

Image
Flight deck; standing out on it some. Apparently just about one acre even in area.
Image
Opening on the left is a ramp down to the upper vehicle deck, hanger door on the right. The ships motto is ‘Lets Roll’ for Flight 93. Forgot to get a clear shot of it.

Image
Valiant coast guard keeping New Jersey and Somerset out of a fistfight, or something.

Image
Ramp down into the vehicle decks, which took us back down to where we started.

Image
LCAC seen upon entry

Image
LCAC luxury seating for embarked vehicle crews

Image
Random drivetrain inspection hatch open, I think this was some kind coupling or the main clutch in the driveshaft to engage/disengage the propulsion fans.

Image
Intake to centrifugal lift fan. Same shaft as above.

Image
Propulsion fan


Image
The rest of the well deck with space for another LCAC

Image
LCAC buttocks

Image
LCAC buttocks wide angle with random person.

Image
Stern gate with additional random person. I was touring with several friends but none of them are in these pictures.

Very good tour overall even without getting into the CIC, I did get to poke a head in the door but the were getting some confusion in the ranks I think with so many different 25 person tour groups roaming around on paths which doubled back on themselves at.

For anyone in the Phily area, online it says yesterday was the last day before March 1 that she was open to tours, but some of the crew onboard suggested that she was actually still open every day until then. Hours are 1-4. She’s worth going down to Penns Landing just to gawk at if nothing else. The march 1st commissioning ceremony itself is sold out with 7000 attending but you can see her well from many publicly accessible areas, they have a security cordon up, such as the I-95 pedestrian bridges and in front of the Independence Seaport Museum.
"This cult of special forces is as sensible as to form a Royal Corps of Tree Climbers and say that no soldier who does not wear its green hat with a bunch of oak leaves stuck in it should be expected to climb a tree"
— Field Marshal William Slim 1956
User avatar
Thanas
Magister
Magister
Posts: 30779
Joined: 2004-06-26 07:49pm

Re: Touring USS Somerset: Image Heavy

Post by Thanas »

Call me crazy, but from an aesthetic point of view I really like the ship form (see your side picture for that). It just seems large without looking too unwieldy or unelegant.

What is the purpose of all those flags?
Whoever says "education does not matter" can try ignorance
------------
A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient, to look the other way. Well, the answer to that is 'survival as what'? A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult! - Chief Judge Haywood
------------
My LPs
User avatar
Borgholio
Sith Acolyte
Posts: 6297
Joined: 2010-09-03 09:31pm
Location: Southern California

Re: Touring USS Somerset: Image Heavy

Post by Borgholio »

If you're talking about the flags in the hangar, those are signal flags that are used to communicate with other ships in the fleet. They represent individual letters or actions. They're just using them for decoration in the hangar though.
You will be assimilated...bunghole!
User avatar
salm
Rabid Monkey
Posts: 10296
Joined: 2002-09-09 08:25pm

Re: Touring USS Somerset: Image Heavy

Post by salm »

Thanas wrote:Call me crazy, but from an aesthetic point of view I really like the ship form (see your side picture for that). It just seems large without looking too unwieldy or unelegant.

What is the purpose of all those flags?
I agree wholeheartedly. The silhouette with these two bizarr towers is wonderful.
User avatar
Sea Skimmer
Yankee Capitalist Air Pirate
Posts: 37389
Joined: 2002-07-03 11:49pm
Location: Passchendaele City, HAB

Re: Touring USS Somerset: Image Heavy

Post by Sea Skimmer »

Those are enclosed masts made of composite material, rather then being superstructure, the after one holds an SPS-48E air search radar rotating internally, the forward one is holding up an SPQ-9B radar for self defense you can see exposed on top. Probably some communications antennas inside the forward one too. Those masts are actually overkill, originally the LPD-17 class was supposed to mount considerable more weapons and sensors, making it all but a frigate in armament, but that all had to be cut out while the ship still managed to triple in cost anyway from being so overdesigned for amphibious warfare.

She does look pretty good from most angles, and that up close shot from the pier with the reflecting sun was just perfect for a moment, but that dimpled look she has from the stringers is kinda distracting. Here's another less optimal one, after mast, it kinda underrates how tall it really is. Guys were up on top at one point rigging lines to put up flags, they'd taken them all down because snow was falling that morning, and they looked about the size of your thumbtip from the dock. Its tall.

Image

Also I'm gonna leech this image for an excellent cutaway view of the guts.
Image
"This cult of special forces is as sensible as to form a Royal Corps of Tree Climbers and say that no soldier who does not wear its green hat with a bunch of oak leaves stuck in it should be expected to climb a tree"
— Field Marshal William Slim 1956
Post Reply