The ship had incredible promise for taking ship design, in every area, to a new and exciting generation. At one point, the propulsion concept was azimuthing pods for superb maneuverability, coupled with interior design freedom because shafts and reduction gears would not be required. Crew size, and hence “ownership” costs, were to be reduced by more than half, with superb quality of life.

I was involved in the proposal process for 3+ years, and after 35 years in Naval ship systems, it was a pure delight to watch the brightest and the best given the opportunity to advance the state of design, through very intensive efforts, to a remarkable concept.

Somehow, and I was retired by then so no longer in close touch, the Navy let the concept get away from them. Too much technology, too much risk, many say. But those are things to be managed actively, and scaled back when appropriate. The ship was originally planned to cost approx $750 million a copy (in 97 dollars) once in production. Cost control was a fundamental of the design process, as was risk management.

Now the program hangs by a thread as more or less a curiosity, and were it not for the shipyard political support involved, the program would likely be dead.

Does anyone remember the so called Arsenal Ship that never made it to detailed design?

It’s a sad, sad thing to watch so much superb innovation and hard work by brilliant minds hanging by a thread rather than leading the way in a new Surface Navy of the future.