HSV-2 Swift

HSV-2 Swift is a non-commissioned catamaran leased by the United States Navy as a mine countermeasures and sea basing test platform, homeported at Naval Station Ingleside, Texas.

The ship, constructed by Australian shipbuilder Incat using their Incat/Bollinger alliance, is the second catamaran the Navy has leased to test new technologies and concepts associated with the Chief of Naval Operations's "Seapower 21" plan.

It is a wave-piercing, aluminum-hulled, commercial catamaran with military enhancements, such as a helicopter flight deck, small boat and unmanned vehicle launch and recovery capability, and an enhanced communications suite. It features a new, modular design, which will allow the ship to be refitted to support any mission without requiring long shipyard periods. Its control system, "Combatss," was first used aboard the Sea Shadow experimental ship, and allowed the Navy to remotely control a ship more than 3,000 miles (5,600 km) from shore. Users interface with Combatss using a Mozilla browser.

In the autumn of 2003, while operating with the Fifth Fleet, Swift completed the fastest-ever transit of the northern Great Barrier Reef from Cairns to Booby Island, Australia, averaging slightly over 39 knots (72 km/h). During flight deck certifications, Swift's crew conducted aircraft recovery while making 43 knots (80 km/h) during one recovery and had 66 knots (122 km/h) apparent winds during another recovery.

In early 2004 Swift returned from the West African Training Cruise-04, an exercise designed to enhance security cooperation between the United States and participating West African nations.

The first ship of this class to be used by the Navy, HSV-1 Joint Venture, proved its military mettle during Operation Iraqi Freedom as a forward staging platform for Marine Fleet Anti-Terrorism and SEAL (SEa, Air, Land) teams in the shallow waters of Umm Qasr, Iraq. The Navy hopes to build upon lessons learned from Swift and its predecessor, and eventually use the information to create a new class of Littoral Combat Ships.

While from the front the vessels appear to look like a trimaran, the centre hull does not rest in the water and is not used for buoyancy. It is used to lower the t-foil into the water, improving the ride.

Swift is the fourth Incat-built high-speed wave piercing catamaran to enter military service, following behind HMAS Jervis Bay, U.S. Army Vessel (USAV) Theater Support Vessel (TSV) 1X Spearhead and Joint Venture.

SWIFT recently was tapped to provide logistical assistance during the Tsunami Relief Effort in North Sumatera. SWIFT proved it's capabilities and flexibility in numerous ways, giving the U.S. Navy a new view. The SWIFT Gold Crew, based at Little Creek Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Virginia, prepared for the new and sudden change of orders in less then 1 weeks time. The two crews performed the fastest crew swap ever in Pearl Harbor, HI., with Gold crew relieving Blue crew in less then 8 hours. Once on station, SWIFT embarked her first ever Helo Det, providing a base of operations for the 2 helos and their crew for 30 consecutive days at sea. SWIFT Gold crew also conducted many firsts for the unique vessel, including the 30 straight days at sea, supporting a helo detachment and it's support crew for 30 days with high tempo flight operations as well as conducting 2 underway replenishments at sea. Upon detaching from the relief effort, Gold crew then took SWIFT through her first transit of the Suez Canal. The Gold crew was also the crew responsible for many other firsts for the SWFIT, including the first Atlantic crossing, first transit through the Panama Canal, and first Pacific crossing. The SWIFT was also the first U.S. Naval ship to be certified for 100% electronic Navigation, removing the centuries old requirement for ships to carry a full copmplement of navigation charts. SWIFT is used a lot for experimental equipment, with the crews reporting back on the effectiveness of the new equipment.

References

This article was based on numerous Navy public domain press releases.

Navy Fact File: High-Speed Vessel (http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/factfile/ships/ship-hsv.html)

Recent information contributed by a recent crew member of HSV-2 SWIFT.