Even with all the tech packed into a U.S. Navy AEGIS combat system equipped Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser, it still has to fight the rough seas like any other vessel.
The Ticos were the first class to be built around AEGIS, but they were not an entirely clean-sheet design. Their hull-form and many of their machine systems were borrowed from the Spruance class destroyer. Because of that, the more massive Ticos have larger crews and more prominent command and control missions compared to the Spruance class. Additionally, the need to mount the large SPY-1 phased-array radars as high up on the ship’s superstructure as possible didn’t help with the class’s top-heavy look.
From certain angles, the Ticos may appear somewhat overbuilt, but they slice through the water pretty damn efficiently—even in rough seas. Case in point: The video below, shot in the South China Sea, shows the USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) attempting an underway replenishment in some pretty nasty conditions.
That is a lot of ship full of a lot of weaponry pitching up and down. Because of the Ticonderoga class’s high-set bridge, I bet the ride was especially fun for her bridge crew. Still, at least they weren’t being battered by the waves like those sailors on the deck trying to resupply the ship while underway—a fairly delicate process, even without the heavy seas.
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