A test bed for bfr marine propulsion

rj40 · Post by **rj40** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 12:29 am

I thought Bussard said that was part of the original Navy plan - to power Arleigh Burke class destroyers?
Seeing a BFR powered Cole parked, even for a short time, at the same place it was hit before would be great. I wonder what kind of message that would be sending? The ship survived and it's back. Oh yeah, it doesn't need fossil fuel anymore. And oh by the way, these power units are about to be everywhere. I think it would be good to see something like that.
No, it has to be the Cole. Tom Ligon has a good idea re: the Stethem. That should be the next one.
US Military funds ARPANET, and it takes off. US Military funds GPS, then it takes off. US Military funds BFRs and … I really want this to work.

Tom Ligon · Post by **Tom Ligon** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 1:08 am

Heh, heh, heh ... that's why I got to tour the Stetham! Dr. Bussard was invited but was too busy, and I got to go instead.

Not that we were exactly whipping out the tape measure to put together a quote or anything ... but somebody thought we ought to have a look at one potential test bed. No question, you could stuff a couple of BFRs in one of those ships easily, and they're on the smallish size. Ocean liners? Heck yeah!

Let's see, when did I tour that thing? Probably roughly the time of the Cole bombing? Maybe just slightly before?

Roger · Post by **Roger** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:47 am

One persons destroyer is anothers frigate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arleigh_Bu ... _destroyer

505 ft x 60ft

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Cornwall

487ft x 48ft

Both, I'm guessing are borderline too small.

MSimon · Post by **MSimon** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 4:27 am

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Bainbridge_(CGN-25)

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Length: 172.1 m (565 ft)
Beam: 17.6 m (57 ft 8 in)
Draft: 3,2 m (8 ft 29 in)
Propulsion: 60,000 shp; 2 G.E. Reactors (D2G), Geared Turbines, 2 screws
Speed: 34 knots (55 km/h)

It was my ship. Now in the bone yard.

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The latest Bainbridge:

http://www.bainbridge.navy.mil/default.aspx

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drmike · Post by **drmike** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 12:55 pm

I like the pictures on this page. Must have been an interesting ship:

At 9100 tons, she was notable as the smallest nuclear-powered surface warship commissioned by any navy.

dweigert · Post by **dweigert** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:06 pm

If I'm not mistaken, a friend of mine who was a Nuc, was on the ship. Kevin Moezelaar is his name... 1994-decomissioning

MSimon · Post by **MSimon** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:25 pm

I was a crew member in the early years. About four years after commissioning.

And yes it was very interesting. Of course at the time it just seemed like part of every day life. Nothing special. BFRs are getting that way for me. I do have the advantage of being immersed in the technology for almost two years. About the amount of time it took to train a nuke (including ET school) back then.

Scupperer · Post by **Scupperer** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:13 pm

rj40 wrote:Seeing a BFR powered Cole parked, even for a short time, at the same place it was hit before would be great. I wonder what kind of message that would be sending? The ship survived and it's back. Oh yeah, it doesn't need fossil fuel anymore. And oh by the way, these power units are about to be everywhere.

Deck it out with a rail gun or two, and you've got a seriously reinforced message.

I can only imagine what that would do for morale (with or without the rail gun.)

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A test bed for bfr marine propulsion

One Man's Frigate