INTRODUCTION OF ADVANCED CONCEPTS INTO EXISTING SHIPS—DE 1052 ESCORT DESTROYER ENGINEERING PLANT MODIFICATION

The present Department of Defense philosophy of “Fly before Buy” is an accepted and effective method of testing new aircraft and ship weapon systems before committing much larger funds for production models. The same method is also applicable for modernization of our present Fleet. Systems and equipment that are now available can increase our existing Fleet's readiness and operational effectiveness. Those that are cost effective should also be fully tested “at-sea” in order that proper decisions and design changes may be made prior to committing extensive resources. This paper describes a program for modifying a DE 1052 machinery plant control configuration with the purpose of reducing the number of required watch-standers and improving the overall command and control capabilities of the ship. The added equipment, controls and redesign of the control station is only one aspect of the modification. In order to insure better utilization of personnel, the Authors propose a method by which the engineering department may be reorganized to be more responsive to operational and maintenance demands, An economic analysis is presented together with both the tangible and intangible benefits to be expected from the implementation of the proposed DE-1052 modification program.