Cometh the day, cometh the designs! This week saw the UCL Mechanical Engineering MSc Ship Design VIP day. 18 students in 6 groups of naval architects and marine engineers have laboured to develop concept designs to meet some challenging requirements: Seaplane Logistics Mothership, Seabed Operations Ship, Primary Casualty Receiving Ship, ASW System Mothership, Disaster Relief Ship, Contingency Production Frigate.
Group A, the Sloth-class Seaplane Logistics Mothership. 14000t 185m solid stores ship supporting a network of small, medium and large logistics seaplanes via a stern ramp. Methanol fuelled diesel engines with azimuthing pods for 18 knots.
@R_P_one Interesting design, and nice renderings. Thank you!
I would love to know more about the background of the seaplane mothership. And about that double-hull seaplane, of course.
@hmwilker thanks! The seaplane mothership was designed to be a supply ship, providing solid stores (ammo etc.) as part of a dispersed network joined by various sizes of seaplanes. The BIG BOY aircraft is a generic version of the Liberty Lifter: https://www.darpa.mil/program/liberty-lifter
