Navy ships--how quickly can they get under way?

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fairwinds

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Didn't know where to actually post this question:

I just saw on CNN that some Navy ships are going to be moved out of Pearl Harbor. I understand the reasoning, but I was just wondering, how quickly can a crew get a ship ready and actually leave port?
 
No one will ever answer that question.

Anchors Aweigh
 
It also depends on their readiness status.

There are ways to say how soon a ship can get underway. It also tells the crew how soon they should return to the ship, and how far away they can be from the ship,
 
That's also information the US Navy probably doesn't want to disclose to everyone and their brother (especially if there brother is Abdul, Ivan, etc!)
 
Knowing a bunch about how nuclear propulsion works...you could, I suppose, attempt to "extrapolate" how quickly a ship could "get up steam" but...how useful would that be? I'd be a guess.

HOWEVER...

You'll find that several ships at Pearl Harbor WAAAAAY back in 1941...were able to get underway in under 35 minutes (including battleships) from a "low level of activity aboard." (Coal burners)

I'm "guessing" that MODERN naval vessels, depending upon their readiness state, are " a tad" quicker.

But I agree with others...that's probably something you WON'T get an answer too!

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
 
Thanks, everyone, for your answers and non-answers (I get it now!!)

My son's years of interest in Navy and Coast Guard vessels has finally rubbed off on me!

PS: I never knew that some ships made it out of Pearl Harbor in 35 mins. Back then, wow!
 
Well, it was no secret back in my day.

If you have a steam ship, it takes a while whether it's nuclear or boiler-fired. My ship used to light boilers two or three DAYS before getting underway.

As someone mentioned, of course, there's more to it than just the power plant. Are their divers working over the side? are their majoe pieces of equipment under repair? Is the ship moored in a nest inboard of another ship that has some issues? Etc....

A gas-turbine ship that's otherwise ready to go? Stone cold to underway in no time flat. We used to joke that when you became the CHENG on a steam ship, they turned over the logs, the samples, the steam tables, the piping diagrams, and a pair of coveralls. On a gas turbine, they just toss you the keys. :cool:

BTW, as mentioned above, at least one ship at Pearl Harbor went from nearly stone-cold to underway in less than an hour, which is AMAZING for a steam plant. They even managed to bag one of the bastards while fighting their way out of the harbor. :biggrin:
 
Well, I just saw it posted somewhere else, so the cat's long out of the bag.

As I said, my ship took days to go from cold iron to full power.

A gas-turbine ship can do it in less than half an hour. How much less, I won't say.
 
Haze Gray and Underway

Anywhere between 1 second and infinity. That's as precise an answer you are likely to receive! :wink:

the sailor formerly known as ET2 (SW/AW)
 
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