US Navy 'Game-Changer': Converting Seawater into Fuel

[happyslug]

52. Except for Carriers and Submarines, the Navy presently use only oil burning ships

In the 1960s some Cruisers were nuclear powered, but they have since been retired. In the 1970s the main differences between "Cruisers" and "Destroyers", were the "Cruisers" were nuclear powered and the "Destroyers" were conventional powered (Technically the difference was size, but the nuclear powered ships tended to meet the "Cruiser" definition, while the conventionally powered ships meet the "Destroyer" definition, but both had roughly the same level of weapons). This caused problems for other nations used different definitions of Cruisers and Destroyers. This difference in definition produced a "Cruiser" gap, the Soviets had more "Cruisers" then the US, while the US had more ships that meet the Soviet and international definitions of Cruisers then did the Soviet Union. To eliminate this "Gap" the US in 1975 re-designated its ships to the same definition other nations had been using::

More on the 1975 re-designation of US Ships:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_1975_ship_reclassification

This still kept the Nuclear Ships Cruisers, but re-designated several Destroyers and "Frigates" as Cruisers (and re-designated even smaller "Destroyer Escorts" to "Frigates", thus Frigates went from a US designation of a large destroyer, almost Cruiser in size. to the present designation as a small escort vessel, NOT to be used to escort Carriers, but slower conveys).

Side note: The top speed of Carriers is classified, but it is officially admitted to "33 knots plus". I have heard stories of 50-60 knots top speed, due to nuclear power. A Conventionally powered ship going that speed would eat up to much fuel, thus a conventional ship may be able to do a burst up to that speed, but not keep it up for more then a few minutes do to how much FUEL such a burst would consume (Nuclear powered ships have an unlimited supply of fuel for such "bursts", needed to be refuel once every five years or so).

Present practice in the US Navy has been to build conventionally powered Destroyers to do the duties of escorting nuclear carriers. I do NOT believe the US Navy, at present, has anything Nuclear other then Carriers and Submarines.

An example of the change is the Ticonderoga class Cruisers, originally designated a "Destroyer", but as the first one was built reclassified as a Cruiser. It powered by gas-turbine engines. IT is the only class of Cruisers still active in the US Navy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticonderoga-class_cruiser

One more note, today's latest destroyers, Arleigh Burke class, are missile destroyers, that have to be taken back to port to reload its missiles and almost as large as the Ticonderoga class Cruisers (9,600 long tons, 9,800 Metric tons, for the Ticonderoga, vs.9,800 Metric tons 9,600 long tons, 10,800 short tons for the latest flight III version of the Arleigh Burke Destroyers and 14,564 long tons, 14,798 metric tons for the Zumwalt class of Destroyers):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arleigh_Burke-class_destroyer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zumwalt-class_destroyer

All other classes of Destroyers are retired or sold to Taiwan:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidd_class_destroyer

Anyway, Today's navy is dependent on oil even for surface ships, let alone aircraft. Given this level of oil usage, anything that permit excess power of Nuclear ships to be used to produce oil may be worth it. Remember, except when operating at top speed, most Nuclear ships have excess power being produced, power that can be used to produce "oil" from the sea as being proposed.

As to using other ships to produce the oil, extending a power line from a Nuclear Carrier is NOT that hard, ships have been doing similar connection with oil lines since WWI. I can see a conventional power ship with a Nuclear Carrier task force, hooking up to the Carrier and using the excess power of the Carrier to make fuel for itself and other ships. If the Carrier has to go some place in a hurry, a quick detachment of the power line can be designed into the power line connection and off go the carrier leaving the ship with the ability to convert sea water to oil behind.

In theory you may be able to send the power via microwaves, but that technology is less developed then conventional power cable. Remember the key is the excess power provided by the Nuclear power plant of the carrier when the Carrier is NOT operating at full speed (which is most of the time). That excess power is the energy required to convert sea water into oil. Without that excess power, conventional oil will be preferred.