Battleship USS Donald J. Trump
Donald Trump is correct that the United States needs a Golden Fleet of up to 25 new modern battleships.
The U.S. Navy was extremely sloppy in its drawings, depictions, and specifications for the battleship USS Donald J. Trump.
President Donald J. Trump stated that the U.S. Navy would lead with design process along with Trump's own personal involvement, but Trump needs to take a strong leadership role to correct the many mistakes the U.S. Navy has already made.
President Trump said “Each one of these will be the largest battleship built in the history of the world. There has never been anything built like them.”
battleship
A battleship is a shortened from “line-of-battle ship” from the Age of Sail (first used in 1794), with modern definitions including a large, heavily armored warship with a main battery of large guns or the largest and most heavily armed and armored class of warship.
The U.S. Navy’s predictions are ships of 30,000 to 40,000 tons, which is bigger than anything the U.S. Navy has built in the last 80 years other than aircraft carriers (97,000-100,000 tons for Nimitz-class and more than 100,000 long tons for Ford-class), but smaller than the Iowa-class battleship (45,000 tons standard displacement and 57,000 to 58,000 tons full load displacement), Montana-class battleship (60,500 tons standard displacement and 70,965 to 72,000 tons full load displacement), and Yamato-class battleship (64,000 standard displacement and 72,000 to 73,000 tons full load displacement).
Navy says
Here’s what the U.S Navy said:
mission
The U.S. Navy press release claims the primary mission is Power Projection, Offensive Strike, and Integrated Air/Missile Defense.
size
The U.S. Navy press release claims a length of 840-880 ft, beam of 105-115 ft, draft of 24-30 ft, and displacement of >35K t.
speed
The U.S. Navy press release claims a crew of 650-850.
propulsion
The U.S. Navy press release claims gas turbines and diesel engines for propulsion, but none of the initial images show any smokestacks or exhaust. The Navy is jerking Trump around.
class size
The U.S. Navy press release claims a class size of 20-25 ships. The Golden Fleet is part of a broader naval initiative to modernize and expand the fleet.
main battery
nuclear missiles
The U.S. Navy press release claims a Surface Launch Cruise Missile-Nuclear (SLCM-N) nuclear-armed cruise missiles.
missile cells
The U.S. Navy press release claims 128 MK41 vertical launch missile cells (VLS) with Tomahawk missiles.
The U.S. Navy press release claims cell Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) hypersonic missile system.
secondary battery
railgun
The U.S. Navy press release claims a single 32MJ Railgun with Hyper Velocity Projectile (HPV).
5″ gun
The U.S. Navy press release claims two standard 5″ Guns with Hyper Velocity Projectile (HPV).
lasers
The U.S. Navy press release claims two 300KW or 600KW lasers.
defensive battery
RAM
The U.S. Navy press release claims two Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launchers.
30mm guns
The U.S. Navy press release claims four 30mm Mk38 Guns
lasers
The U.S. Navy press release claims four ODIN (Optical Dazzling Interdictor Navy) lasers.
counter-UxS
The U.S. Navy press release claims two Counter-UxS (unmanned aerial/surface systems).
detection and tracking
The U.S. Navy press release claims sensors including radar, RF scanners, and optical systems. This includes four fixed radar faces SPY-6 Air and Missile Defense Radar each containing 37 Radar Module Assemblies (RMAs), allowing for high sensitivity and capability,
electronic warfare
The U.S. Navy press release claims jammers and other tools to disrupt drone command and control
command and control
The U.S. Navy press release claims command & control (C2) to integrate data from all sensors and that the ship is designed to operate independently or with strike groups under the conrol of an Embarked Commander with full C4I suite, providing forward command for manned and unmanned systems.
multi-domain warfare
The U.S. Navy press release claims multi-domain warfare integrating manned and unmanned forces.
aircraft
The U.S. Navy press release claims a flight deck and two hangers for V-22 Ospreys, helicopters, and oth3er vertical lift aircraft.
what should happen
battleship basics
The three traditional factors for a battleship are guns, armor, and speed. Adding more weight reduces speed. Both guns and armor are expensive.
Traditionally a battleship must be armored to protect itself from a ship that has the same size guns. That rule of thumb disappears when you consider missile armed ships.
Here’s what should be built:
size
Let’s look at World War II battleships (full load).
The Yamato-class battleship (Japan) was ~72,000-73,000 tons.
The Montana-class battleship (USA - planned) was ~72,000 tons.
The Iowa-class battleship (USA) was ~58,000 tons.
The Bismark-class battleship (Germany) was ~52,600 tons.
The Richelieu-class battleship (France) was ~44,700 tons.
The South Dakota-class battleship (USA) was ~43,800 tons.
The King George V-class battleship (UK) was ~42,000 tons.
The Navy’s Trump-class battleship (USA)vis expected ot about 35,000 tons, more than double the weight of the Zumwalt-class destroyers (15,000 tons).
A single salvo (broadside) from an Iowa-class battleship was more than 24,000 lbs. while the Yamato’s broadsie was nearly 29,00 lbs.
The Ford-class aircraft carrier has full load displacement of 100,000 long tons.
The maximum weight for a fast and maneuverable war ship is around 200,000 tons. If the trump-class battleship is allowed to be up to 200,000 tons, it has long term reserve bouyancy for adding future generations of technology.
main guns
The proposed Trump battleship has a five inch gun and rail guns.
Modern five inch guns are much more powerful than Worl War II five inch guns, but are woefully inadequate for shore bombardment and shore bombardment was one of the main uses of World War II battleships and continues to be requested by the US Marine Corps as their reason why the Marines want a new battleship.
Current railgun technology wears out quickly. The Japanese navy is continuing their rail gun research because they only intend to operate their naval ships near their homeland, meaning it will always be a short distance for a Japanese ship to return to Japan to have the rail guns replaced.
The US Navy operates a world wide deep ocean navy and therefore its ships can easily be 10-14 days one way between Norfolk and the Arabian Sea. Almost a month of travel time round trip makes replacing quickly worn out rail guns impractical.
The obvious solution is either three to four triple turrets of 46 cm (18.1 inch) main guns (for 9 or 12 total main guns). World War II range would be about 42 km or 26 miles, but modern improvements in propellants, shell design, and rocket-assist or base-bleed can increase that range.
mission
The Navy’s choices of Power Projection, Offensive Strike, and Integrated Air/Missile Defense can be secondary missions, but the primary missions should be naval gunfire support (NGS, massive firepower for coastal bombardment, especially in support of amphibious landings), naval supremacy & sea control, long range strikes, and robust armored platforms for defense of aircraft carriers and command and control of Carrier Strike Groups (CSGs). In terms of power projection, a battleship is one of the few naval ships that can come close enough to a hostile shore to intiminate enemy forces.
In addition to World War II battleships, we should also look at the Japanese Ise-class battleship-carriers, the French Surcouf gun-armed cruiser submarine, the Japanese I-400 submarine aircraft carriers, the American AN-1 plans for submarine aircraft carriers, the American Cold War plans for converting Iowa-class battleships into amphibious battleships or battlecarriers, American post-Cold War CVN-21 alternatives to Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, Russian Kirov-class cruisers, Russian Kiev-class heavy aircraft cruisers, and the proposed Russian Pilgrim nuclear submarine.
Russia’s proposed Pilgrim class submarine will be longer than the Ford aircraft carrier (Pilgrim’s 1,180 feet long compared to Ford’s 1,106 feet long) and almost as wide (Pilgrim’s 230 feet wide compared to Ford’s 250 feet wide) and greater displacement (Pilgrim’s 170,000 to 180,000 ton displacement compared to Ford’s 100,000 ton displacement).
An ambitious naval ship of comparable size to the Pilgrim combining the key features of a nuclear attack submarine, nuclear ballistic missile submarine, aircraft carrier, guided missile cruiser, and battleship would provide a modern ship more advanced than anything else in any navy with mission versatility and plenty of space and capacity for future-proofing.
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