Surface Warfare: Surface Warfare Asia Johnson
What is Surface Warfare?: What is Surface Warfare? Surface Warfare is the Navy's oldest warfare community. It deals with the entire range of Navy missions. Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Anti-Air Warfare (AAW), Anti-Surface Warfare (ASUW), Land Attack, Theatre Air Missile Defense (TAMD), and support for Marine Corps missions are all within Surface warfare expertise and responsibility.
Who are Surface Warfare Officers(SWOs)?: Who are Surface Warfare Officers(SWOs)? Surface Warfare Officers are the ship drivers and the ship fighters in the U.S. Navy. As Ensigns they are given responsibilities for management of millions of dollars of material and equipment. They are required to perform the day-to day management of their assigned divisions as well as standing deck and engineering watches to insure that their ship meets its operational commitments. SWOs lead the U.S. Bluejacket in a new Navy of advanced technology and unprecedented firepower.
SWO Motto: SWO Motto The Surface Warfare Officers' (SWO) motto is "Semper Ductus" which is translated as “Always Leadership”.
History: History The history of naval warfare is also the history of surface warfare. Until the use of submarines and aircraft, all naval actions were conducted with surface ships. In the past, most naval actions occurred to transport armies or army supplies from one place to another. Few nations developed specialized ships designed to attack other ships until the creation of artillery and naval guns.
Creation of Naval Guns and the Steamship: Creation of Naval Guns and the Steamship With naval guns, it became possible to transport a large amount of guns to various locations and deploy them against enemies who could not transfer land-based guns to counter this mobile threat. For the next 300 years, naval warfare was devoted to the development of better guns.
With the creation of the steamship, it became possible to build massive gun platforms and provide them with excellent armor protection. The Dreadnought battleships and their successors were the first heavy capital ships that combined technology and firepower into a mobile weapons platform. But, in the first half of the 20th century, naval strategists and planners failed to take into account the effect of airpower on the effectiveness and functionality of large capital ships, such as battleships.
The importance of Naval Surface Power: The importance of Naval Surface Power In the second half of the 20th century, the importance of naval surface power was reduced. This was a result of the fact that air and submarine warfare platforms demonstrated their capabilities. In the 21st century, it has been clearly demonstrated that a modern naval force must be composed of all three platforms; surface, submarine, and air, to be effective in maintaining sea control and projecting naval power.
Surface Combatants: Surface Combatants Surface combatants; cruisers, destroyers, and frigates, provide the Navy with a wide range of capabilities to complete U.S. national security objectives. In the 1950's the term 'frigate' was used for large ships. But, in 1975 the terms and names were revised and produced three basic types of naval ships: Cruisers, which were supposed to be anti-air warfare (AAW) specialists; Frigates, which were to be anti-submarine warfare (ASW); and Destroyers which were supposed to be a mixture of both cruiser and frigate. In practice, these distinctions broke down more or less immediately.
Slide9: In peacetime, these large, heavily armed ships carry out a wide range of overseas presence missions and enhance U.S. crisis response capabilities. During a conflict, surface combatants conduct combat operations against enemy submarines, surface ships, aircraft, missiles, and targets ashore. They would do so independently or with other military forces. Technological advances over the last decade, such as the Aegis combat system, the vertical launching system (VLS), and the capability to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles, have expanded the range of tasks that the newer, more capable ships entering the force can undertake.
The Navy believes that surface combatants will be important early in a conflict. They can provide protection of sea and air routes, ports, coastal airfields, and facilities and substantial command, control, and communications capabilities. The Navy also believes that surface combatant forces will provide initial capabilities until additional forces arrive in the area. Forward-deployed surface combatants could be available to immediately strike targets on land with Tomahawk cruise missiles and provide naval fire support for ground forces.
Surface Combatants in the Future: Surface Combatants in the Future Some time in the near future surface combatant forces are expected to provide defense against ballistic missiles. A 1995 Navy surface combatant study found that defense against theater ballistic missile and Tomahawk strikes will be a high-priority task of Aegis-capable ships early on in a Major Regional Contingency.
Cruisers: Cruisers A cruiser is a large warship capable of engaging multiple targets simultaneously. A cruiser is, by definition, the smallest ocean-going warship capable of independent operations, meaning operations in which the cruiser is the largest capital ship.
The Long Beach (CGN-9 : The Long Beach (CGN-9
Frigates: Frigates In modern military terminology, a frigate is a warship intended to protect other warships and merchant ships as anti-submarine warfare (ASW) combatants for amphibious expeditionary forces, underway replenishment groups, and merchant convoys. Frigates fulfill a Protection of Shipping (POS) mission as Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) combatants for amphibious expeditionary forces, underway replenishment groups and merchant convoys. Frigates were the cruisers of the 18th century and were usually smaller and faster. They carried 28 to 44 guns. Sloops-of-war: The smallest warships. They carried 10 to 20 guns.
DLGN-25 Bainbridge, a 7800-ton nuclear-powered guided missile frigate : DLGN-25 Bainbridge, a 7800-ton nuclear-powered guided missile frigate
Destroyers: Destroyers Destroyers (DDs) and guided- missiles destroyers (DDGs) are multi-purpose ships that are useful in almost any kind of naval operation. They are fast ships with a variety of armament, but little or no armor. For protection, they depend on their speed and mobility. Their displacement varies from about 4,500 tons to 7,800 tons. The principal mission of destroyers is to operate offensively and defensively against submarines and surface ships and to take defensive action against air attacks. They also provide gunfire support for amphibious assaults and perform patrol, search, and rescue missions. The destroyer’s armament consists of 5-inch guns and a variety of antisubmarine weapons, such as torpedoes, antisubmarine rockets (ASROCs), and Terrier and Tartar missiles. Traditionally, destroyers have been named after officers and enlisted personnel of the Navy and Marine Corps and Secretaries of the Navy.
USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) , the most powerful surface combantant ever put to sea.: USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) , the most powerful surface combantant ever put to sea.