Saw this thing last Thursday about noon while fishing near the stinky pinckney. The harbor was slick as glass and this boat flew by us and kicked it into high gear right by crab bank. It was hauling azz and kicking up a 30’ wake easily. Never seen anything like it before. I assume it’s a military vessel, but I would be interested in learning more about it if anyone knows whats up.
Here’s another shot after it really kicked up a rooster tail. It went thru the jetties at a high speed, and I didn’t see it return before leaving the area around 3:30.
Ok, I did a little poking around and found some interesting stuff. Apparently it is the Navy’s stealth ship, the Stiletto.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M80_Stiletto
The M80 Stiletto is a prototype naval ship manufactured by the M Ship Company as an operational experiment for The Pentagon’s Office of Force Transformation. It is notable for its hull design and carbon fiber construction, as well as its networked architecture.
Contents
The M80 Stiletto is a U.S. Navy vessel designed for combat in littoral (near shore) waters built by M Ship Co.
The 88-foot (27 m) long vessel has a notable hull design, an M-shaped hull that provides a stable yet fast platform for mounting electronic surveillance equipment or weapons, or for conducting special operations. The hull design does not require foils or lifting devices to achieve a smooth ride at high speeds in rough conditions. Its shallow draft means the M80 Stiletto can operate in littoral and riverine environments and potentially allows for beach landings.
The M80 Stiletto is equipped with four Caterpillar, Inc. C32 1232 kW (1652 HP) engines yielding a top speed in excess of 50 knots (90 km/h) and a range of 500 nautical miles (900 km) when fully loaded. It can be outfitted with jet drives for shallow water operations and beaching.
It has a topside flight deck for launching and retrieving UAVs and a rear ramp that can launch and recover an 11-meter rigid-hull inflatable boat (RIB) or Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV).
It weighs 45 tons unloaded, light enough that it can be hoisted onto a cargo ship, while still able to carry up to 20 tons of cargo in the 1,996 square feet (200 m2) of usable interior space. The ship is 88.6 feet (27.0 m) in length, with a width of 40 feet (12 m) and a height of 18.5 feet (5.6 m), yet has a draft of only 2.5 feet (0.8 m).
Aw man, that’s cool. It would have been awesome to see in person.
“I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of the general public.”
~my dad
Equipment:
190cc Sea Pro w/130 Johnson
1- 15 year old
1 - 11 year old
1 - wife (The Warden)
ECFC
Wonder how long it’ll be until someone who can’t get out of the way gets run over… [:0]
Just an Old Cracker … With a Gun!
We were bottom fishing Wednesday NE of the rocks, saw it out there too.
Long Enuff
Saw it fly by us headed upstream in the cooper river; probably headed for the weapons station or general dynamics cause it passed the port and went around the bend at approx 30knots
2001 22’ key west cc
200hp yam sx ser II
“Wet Bottom II”
Saw it fly by us headed upstream in the cooper river; probably headed for the weapons station or general dynamics cause it passed the port and went around the bend at approx 30knots
2001 22’ key west cc
200hp yam sx ser II
“Wet Bottom II”
quote:
Originally posted by CaptFritz30’ wake? Really…
rooster tail if i had to guess… it would take an oil tanker fully loaded plowing at 45 knots to throw a 30ft wake
“The amount of money I’ll be makin would hurt your parents feelings. Remember the class where I taught you all how to make it rain? That’s what I’ll be doin every night, dollar…dollar…bills y’all.”
SPAWAR is testing out some electronics on it. There’s an article in today’s Post and Courier about it.
Right, rooster tail was probably 30 feet. It was an impressive sight.
Really it was coming to our dock on the cooper to test mount a tow bit… May add to the fleet for an offshore response vessel.
Captain Steve Little
TowBoat US Charleston
Psalm 107:23-32
www.towboatcharleston.com
I heard it was a Navy Seal boat and they are here doing exercises. Either way it’s a cool boat.
