Navy, Army explore uses for high-speed catamaran
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
A type of futuristic ship that looks like a gadget from a James Bond movie will be making stops in Hawai'i in the spring, and could have a permanent presence here with both military and civilian use.
Photo courtesy U.S. Navy
Large catamarans using "wave-piercing" technology are being looked at by the Navy and Army, as well as by Hawaii SuperFerry, which hopes to have interisland passenger and auto service in 2006.
The high-speed experimental research vessel Joint Venture is on lease to the U.S. military from an Australian shipbuilder.
The 300-foot-plus-long, aluminum-hulled ships are capable of a blistering 40 knots and have a shallow draft that allows them to get close to shore.
Tests by the Marines showed that one High-Speed Vessel, or HSV, could transport almost 1,000 troops and 152 Humvees or other combat vehicles.
In Japan, the use of an HSV as an alternative to aircraft decreased flight noise in neighboring communities.
The Army is interested in using a similar ship that it calls a Theater Support Vessel, or TSV, to ferry its planned fast-response Stryker Brigade of 300 eight-wheeled armored troop transports.
Mary Markovinovic, a spokeswoman for U.S. Army Pacific based at Fort Shafter, said the leased HSV-X1 Joint Venture will be making a stop in Hawai'i in the spring for training.
The ship was supposed to be here for the recent 25th Infantry Division (Light) Lightning Thrust Warrior exercise, but it developed an engine problem after spending eight months in the Persian Gulf.
According to the American Forces Press Service, the Army plans to deploy 17 TSVs around the world by 2011.
Markovinovic said thought is being given to basing an Army catamaran on O'ahu.
A recently released draft environmental report for the $1.5 billion Stryker Brigade, meanwhile, notes that the Army's Logistics Support Vessels based here could be replaced by the much-faster TSV.
Two Logistics Support Vessel transports are based on O'ahu, and a third is expected next year.
"There is consideration (being given to basing a TSV in Hawai'i), but nothing has been determined yet," Markovinovic said.
Although the aim of the nation's six planned Stryker Brigades is to deploy anywhere in the world in 96 hours, and freighters such as the C-17 aircraft would transport the brigades, a TSV would be able to deliver a Stryker Brigade to shallow-water ports in countries with minimal infrastructure.
The Army's Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command said having a TSV also would allow a Stryker Brigade to be deployed as a complete unit with equipment fully fueled and armed and allow mission planning and rehearsal en route.
The Joint Venture is among a trio of vessels on lease from Australian shipbuilder Incat and is getting high marks from U.S. military officials.
At the start of the war in Iraq, the Joint Venture sailed into shallow waters near Umm Qasr and acted as a forward staging base for Marines and Navy SEALs.
The Army's TSV-1X Spearhead, a high-speed ferry between the Australian mainland and Tasmania for nine years, delivered Patriot missile batteries, cargo and troops in the theater.
The Navy's Military Sealift Command recently leased the HSV-2 Swift for use as a Mine Warfare Command and Support Ship, and a test platform for its Littoral Combat Ship concepts.
Adm. Walter F. Doran, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor, visited Tasmania and shipbuilder Incat last month.
"I'm very interested," Doran told The Australian. "You're going at 35, 36, 37 knots ... you see the size of it and let your mind think of that, and think about if you had modularized, very high technical capabilities to use it for logistics, to use it for infiltration, maybe you could use it for a command and control platform."
Pacific Fleet said there are no plans to base an HSV in Hawai'i, but future testing and evaluation could be done. An HSV also is expected to be in Hawai'i for Rim of the Pacific, or RIMPAC, naval exercises in 2004.
The Hawaii SuperFerry project, meanwhile, envisions interisland ferry service on a 320-foot, wave-piercing catamaran capable of holding 900 people and about 250 cars, trucks and buses.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
