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But there is also automation that helps with a lot of tasks that are no longer required to be done manually. I don't have any expertise in ships, but I can give
by AdrianB1 5y ago
But there is also automation that helps with a lot of tasks that are no longer required to be done manually. I don't have any expertise in ships, but I can give the example of airline aircrafts: 50 years ago you had 4 people in the cockpit (pilot, copilot, navigator, mechanic), then 3 and now just 2 (pilot + copilot) and some companies are toying with the idea (that I don't like at all) to reduce to a single person. From 4 to 2 or from 4 to 1 is possible due to automation. I think it is similar with ships.
- ceejayoz 5y agoAutomation in planes is great, but in ships, you risk not having enough physical bodies when it's time to patch a big hole in the side of the ship. The Zumwalt class are 610 feet long, with 130 crew. Similarly sized WWII cruisers had over a thousand.
- tcmart14 5y agoOne responder replied with one possible reason, I will give another based off my time on a rather new LHD. The Navy, to cut cost on construction, uses a lot of hand-me downs. I believe if I remember correctly, some of our engineering gear was repurposed from the USS Kitty Hawk. I dealt specifically with aviation fuels, while carriers often have limitorque values (think automated if unfamiliar), the ship I was on had none, all valves in the Av fuels system was manually operated. Keep in mind, I think construction completed in 2009 (so limitorques were definitely around).