07-10-2003, 07:45 PM
Occhidiangela,Jul 10 2003, 04:02 PM Wrote:Fastest ship of the line that I have ever heard of? The USS Enterprise, CV -65. Rumor has it that Soviet Alpha class, all titanium SSN's, could run faster. I wonder at the truth of the matter.ENTERPRISE is about as fast as they go, 33.6 knots at full power after refit. Close behind come the Iowa class battleships, though none of them are in service any more. They could usually reliably get 32.5, maybe 33.
It was rumoured that the Alfa class could hit 45 knots due to a sodium-cooled reactor design, among other things, but recent information reveals that NATO intelligence was way off on the Alfa's capabilities. Aside from being noisy (and therefore near-blind, not even counting the fogging of the instruments due to insufficient radiation shielding), they could never get 45. The most reasonable number seems to be an estimate in the 38-41 range, though some places still carry a "43-45 knot" estimate since disproven.