55.1 GENERAL

The last edition of Ship Design and Construction was published in 1980. Ronald Reagan, the new President of the U.S., was determined to build up to a 600-ship Navy. Leonid Brezhnev was the leader of the Soviet Union, which was also continuing to build up its blue water naval forces. This naval arms race between the U.S. and the USSR, and their NATO and Warsaw Pact allies, produced a large number of highly capable and innovative ships.

Figure 55.1.1: Carrier Battle Group

Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985, the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, and two years later the Soviet Union dissolved.

In the succeeding years, the once powerful Russian surface navy ceased to be world class. Many ships were scrapped, sold, or laid up. The end of the Cold War, and the perception of reduced threat, caused the U.S. Navy fleet to shrink in size to less than 300 ships, and adapt to a new role of littoral or regional, as opposed to blue water, warfare. The current fleet (2003) is centered on a dozen aircraft carrier battle groups and a dozen amphibious ready groups.

This chapter on naval surface ships will concentrate on the U.S. Navy, with its wide spectrum of ship types and capabilities. The contributions of other navies will be mentioned to provide perspective and balance. Only surface ships will be addressed. Submarines are addressed in Chapter 55.