Combat ship Freedom sets Navy’s course

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From left, Petty Officer 1st Class Jose Avelar, Chief Petty Officer Kai Ramirez, Chief Petty Officer Francisco Valdovinos and Chief Petty Officer Raymond Quezada look toward Norfolk Naval Station as the USS Freedom nears Norfolk, Va., on Monday.


Combat ship Freedom sets Navy’s course
By Matthew Jones, The Virginian-Pilot

ABOARD THE USS FREEDOM, Va. — The sound of freedom is not always as loud as the jet pilots would have you believe.

On a sunny, mild December morning, the noise at the waterline was the swoosh of a steel hull pushing through the choppy water of the upper Chesapeake Bay, accompanied by the distant thrum of diesel engines and gas turbines down below. It was quiet by virtually any standard, even when hitting nearly 50 knots.

The littoral combat ship Freedom, first in its class, pulled away from the U.S. Naval Academy pier in Annapolis, Md., on Monday morning and made its way down the Chesapeake Bay, headed for Norfolk.

Along the way, it helped illustrate what a big part of the Navy’s future could look like.

"This is the first large change in the way the Navy does business in a long, long time," said Lt. Jeff Hurley, the ship’s combat systems officer.


Rest of article about this $600,000,000 wonder at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59498