Telstar Logistics

Radioactive Hulk of Aircraft Carrier USS Independence Located Off San Francisco Coast

Sixty years after it was scuttled off the coast of San Francisco, the bomb-scarred, radioactive hulk of the World War II-era aircraft carrier USS Independence (CVL-22) has been located on the seafloor near the Farallon Islands.

NOAA, working with private industry partners and the U.S. Navy, has confirmed the location and condition of the USS Independence, the lead ship of its class of light aircraft carriers that were critical during the American naval offensive in the Pacific during World War II. 

Resting in 2,600 feet of water off California's Farallon Islands, the carrier is "amazingly intact," said NOAA scientists, with its hull and flight deck clearly visible, and what appears to be a plane in the carrier's hangar bay.

Independence (CVL 22) operated in the central and western Pacific from November 1943 through August 1945 and later was one of more than 90 vessels assembled as a target fleet for the Bikini Atoll atomic bomb tests in 1946. Damaged by shock waves, heat and radiation, Independence survived the Bikini Atoll tests and, like dozens of other Operation Crossroads ships, returned to the United States. 

While moored at San Francisco's Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, Independence was the primary focus of the Navy's studies on decontamination until age and the possibility of its sinking led the Navy to tow the blast-damaged carrier to sea for scuttling on Jan. 26, 1951.

This is a remarkable and fascinating discovery, because it's no exaggeration so say that the nuclear history of San Francisco and the USS Independence have long been intimately connected — and remain so to this day.

San Francisco is still grappling with the complex and messy task of cleaning up radioactive contamination at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, in no small part because of the massive (and massively unsuccessful) effort undertaken there to try and decontaminate USS Independence after the Operation Crossroads detonations. 

Independence was originally laid down as a cruiser, but during construction it was converted into a light aircraft carrier as an emergency wartime measure. Light carriers had short flight decks, and they were mostly used to transport aircraft between ports, but Independence saw combat too, sustaining torpedo damage at Tarawa in 1943. In January 1944, the ship came to Hunter’s Point for repairs.

Here's how Independence looked when it was moored near Hunter's Point in 1944:

After the war, Independence was sent to Bikini, where it became a target for the Operation Crossroads nuclear detonation experiments:

A fleet of 95 target vessels was assembled in Bikini Lagoon. At the center of the target cluster, the density was 20 ships per square mile (7.7 per km²), three to five times greater than military doctrine would allow. The stated goal was not to duplicate a realistic anchorage, but to measure damage as a function of distance from the blast center, at as many different distances as possible.[34] The arrangement also reflected the outcome of the Army/Navy disagreement about how many ships should be allowed to sink.

The target fleet included four obsolete U.S. battleships, two aircraft carriers, two cruisers, eleven destroyers, eight submarines, numerous auxiliary and amphibious vessels, and three surrendered German and Japanese ships. The ships carried sample amounts of fuel and ammunition, plus scientific instruments to measure air pressure, ship movement, and radiation.

Although heavily damaged by the force of the the 1946 atomic tests, Independence survived the blasts at Bikini. Here's how the ship looked while still smoldering in the immediate aftermath:

A closeup look at the blast damage to her stern (notice the two sailors on board the ship at the far right):

After Operation Crossroads, Independence and several other surviving ships were towed to San Francisco. These were the very early years of nuclear weaponry, so the goal was to investigate techniques that could be used to decontaminate navy ships after a possible nuclear conflict. 

Here's how Independence looked when it was tied up at Hunter's Point, beneath the massive crane that remains a prominent local landmark today:

Much of the effort focused on the use of sandblasting techniques to decontaminate the major components of exposed ships.

By and large, this effort was deemed a failure. However, the Navy generated significant amounts of contaminated sand along the way, and much of this sand was collected and stored on metal barrels. In turn, many of those barrels were loaded onto the hulk of the Independence, which effectively turned the battered ship into a floating nuclear waste repository.

Writing for SF Weekly in 2001, Lisa Davis compiled a definitive history of the nuclear decontamination efforts at Hunters Point:

At some point, [National Radiological Defense Laboratory] scientists determined that there was no hope of ever cleaning up the Independence, and began to use the mighty ship as a floating laboratory. The theory behind this plan was elegantly simple: Because the ship was already contaminated and scheduled for disposal, it was the perfect place for high-level radiation experiments and storage. "Large quantities of fresh fission products were introduced on board and drained into empty tanks for stowage," one memo from the time says. Correspondence between shipyard personnel also shows that samples (including sea life and plants) from Operation Crossroads were moved on board the Independence. Finally, in January 1951, the mighty Independence -- apparently full of nuclear waste -- was towed underneath the Golden Gate Bridge and sunk at sea, apparently near the Farallon Islands.

Here are some of the last photos of the Independence ever taken (until now). In January 1951, loaded with its radioactive cargo, Independence was towed out to a point near the Farallons for use as a gunnery target:

The ship took a few direct hits:

And then, it keeled over and sank:

This map identifies where the wreck of the Independence was just found:

 And here's a sonar detail of the wreck:

 PHOTOS: Historical photos of USS Independence via Navsource.org. Hat tip to Jeremy Crandell

It's a Hemi: Meet the Army's Badass Backhoe

While on a recent survey of the industrial waterfront in Oakland, California, Telstar Logistics spied a most unusual vehicle: A heavily armored backhoe strapped to an open-sided shipping container.

Moving in for a closer look, we observed that the vehicle was built in an unusual configuration, with four equally sized wheels on each corner. "It wants to go fast," we theorized.

Upon returning to headquarters, our reasearchers quickly identified the odd vehicle as a High Mobility Engineer Excavator, or HMEE. (The troops call it a "Hemi.")  Built by JCB and first fielded in 2009, the HMEE was designed to provide military engineers with a piece of front-line construction equipment that can keep up with fast-moving convoys of Stryker armored fighting vehicles. Toward that end, the HMEE has a backhoe. It has a front-end loader. It has an armored, air-conditioned cabin. it has four-wheel steering, and it goes 60 mph on paved roads. In other words: It hauls earth and it hauls ass: 

The JCB HMEE-I is designed for excavating, earthmoving and loading. Its heavy-duty backhoe loader can self-deploy at speeds of up to 60mph and is designed for blast and ballistic protection. The vehicle is ROPS (rollover protective system) and FOPS (falling object protective structure) approved, and extra plates of appliqué armour can be fitted to the cab. It also has a blackout facility for night operations.

Here's a clean photo of a HMEE in action:

This promotional video from the manufacturer shows what the HMEE can do.

Impressive!

And here's a video that shows a HMEE deployed to Afghanistan:

 

Lastly, this photo provides a reminder that HMEEs are required to work on some very unforgiving jobsites:

Here's what happened:

The Army's new High Mobility Engineer Excavator saved the life of a Soldier in Iraq May 29, [2009], when an anti-tank mine exploded as he was digging a culvert trench near South Balad Ruz.

The device exploded and immobilized the Army's replacement to the Small Emplacement Excavator, the HMEE. Sgt. Adam Smith Jr., 9th Engineer Battalion, 172nd Infantry Brigade, walked away from the wreckage.

"I'm thankful I was in the HMEE and not the SEE," Smith said.

"I am extremely happy with the blast protection offered by the HMEE; it saved my Soldier's life," said Capt. Andrew Maxa, Company B, 9th Engineer Battalion commander.

PHOTOS: Top, Telstar Logistics. Below, US Army.

Navy Plans to Scrap Sea Shadow Stealth Warship

Since no one seems to want to take the thing, the US Navy has announced plans to scrap its Sea Shadow stealth warship prototype, which was built during the 1980s. Until recently the ship was in mothballs at Suisun Bay, near San Francisco, but its future now looks bleak:

Navy spokesman Chris Johnson told FoxNews.com the ship's fate is all but sealed: To the junk heap it will go.

"The next disposition is dismantling and recycling," he said.

Johnson said that from 2006 until this year, the Navy made the Sea Shadow available for donation. "While several letters of interest were received, only one organization submitted an application, which was determined to be non-viable,” he said.

The ship is perhaps best known as the inspiration for the stealth ship in the 1997 James Bond film, "Tomorrow Never Dies." Johnson said he couldn't give a time frame for its actual demise, but he said the decision is based on the lack of interest from any viable taker. “A ship that pristine is too expensive,” Johnson said. 

The Sea Shadow, made in secrecy, stored in secrecy and constructed for secrecy, once cost the United States Navy $195 million to build and operate. 

Completed in 1985 by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Lockheed Martin, it was the Navy’s first experimental stealth ship. The Sea Shadow is 160 feet long and 70 fee wide, has a maximum speed of 14 knots and has the ability to operate in Sea State 5 conditions, or winds from 17 to 21 knots. But it was never intended for missions, just for testing.  

“The craft was built to examine application of stealth technology on naval missiles,” Johnson said.

Hat Tip: SF Citizen

 

 

Mexican Drug Cartels Building DIY Armored Vehicles

The militarization of Mexico's criminal cartels continues, as authorities have seized an increasing number of home-built -- and sophisticated -- armored vehicles.

From today's New York Times:

MEXICO CITY — Rhino trucks, narco tanks, Mad Mex-inismos? No one can agree on what to call the armored monster vehicles that Mexican criminal groups have been welding together in recent months, but this much is clear — they are building more of them.

Over the weekend, Mexican authorities found two more of these makeshift road warriors in Tamaulipas, the same northern border state where the first armored vehicle appeared in April after a battle between the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas gang. In the latest case, the Mexican Defense Department said, the armored trucks were found in a metalworking shop in Camargo, which also held at least two other partly modified monsters and 23 additional trucks.

The completed versions were bigger than what has been found before. Built on three-axle truck beds, they had room for 20 armed men, one official said. They were covered with inch-thick steel, which could withstand 50-caliber fire, and each had been equipped with insulation.

Here's a modified Ford F-350 that was captured in May:

And another:

Aaaaand yet another:

Add to Wishlist: One British Aircraft Carrier, Good Condition

It can make 30+ knots. It has sleeping accommodations for more than 1000 people. And it can function as your own personal floating airport.

If you've ever fantasized about owning your own aircraft carrier -- or if you're dying to create your own real-life version of Snow Crash -- then you'll be glad to know that just two weeks after it was removed from military service, Britain's Royal Navy has put the HMS Ark Royal, an Invincible-class aircraft carrier, up for sale on the Ministry of Defense auction website.

The Daily Mail reports:

The sale follows that of its sister ship HMS Invincible, which was towed away last week to a scrapyard in Turkey after being sold on the same internet site.

Although the Ark Royal could also be sold for its scrap metal, other proposals for it include a commercial heliport in London as well as a base for special forces to provide security at next year's Olympic Games.

And a move could be made to turn it into a nightclub and school in China.

Bidders have until 10am on June 13 to put their tenders forward for the ship. No minimum price is given.

Happily, even if you can't afford to buy the Ark Royal outright, you can certainly enjoy the thrill and satisfaction of clicking the "Add to Wishlist" button on the MoD's eBay-style auction website:

 

PHOTO: Maritime Quest

 

Let's Hope They Have Robotic Fire Trucks in Fukushima

As the nuclear crisis at Fukushima continues, tonight brings news that Japan has attempted to douse the reactors with water dropped from Japanese Self-Defense Forces CH-47 helicopters. There is deep tragedy in this, because the Soviets attempted much the same during the Chernobyl disaster -- and the pilots died from radiation exposure not long thereafter. 

Let's hope Japan also has some robotic firefighting equipment on hand, like the DOK-ING apparatus shown above. (Corporate slogan: "Don't send a man to do a machine's job." Amen.). The company says:

The MVF-5 is unique remote controlled fire fighting system developed to fight fires in hazardous and inaccessible areas. It is designed to help fire-fighters to do their job in the most challenging and dangerous conditions.

The MVF-5 is the third product launched by DOK-ING and was designed based on the development of the previous DOK-ING machines. The system is an example of a highly sophisticated robotic system incorporating the latest fire fighting technologies that enable users to extinguish fires with minimal personnel and vehicle damage. The remote-control system allows the user to remain outside the range of danger during operation.

The system is effective in clearing a path for traditional fire fighting vehicles in difficult terrain.

The standard operating tool mounted in front of the vehicle is a hydraulic arm and blade tool attachment which allows the system to grip and remove obstacles. The MVF-5 has a Ziegler water pump with a range of 55 m and tanks with a capacity of 1800 l of water and 600 l of foam.

The MVF-5 can effectively operate in the following locations:

• Oil refineries and chemical plants 
• Chemical storage areas
• Nuclear power stations 

Photos: DOK-ING. Hat tip: Bay Quackers

Presidio Pet Cemetery: New Infrastructure Meets Eternal Rest

Doyle Drive is not a particularly famous street in San Francisco, but chances are that if you've ever been to the Golden Gate Bridge, you probably traveled on it -- Doyle Drive the multilane elevated freeway that rises above the former Presidio Army Base to shuttle motorists from the streets of the city to the foot of the bridge.

Built in the 1930s, at the same time as the Golden Gate Bridge, Doyle Drive is now a seismic hazard, so it is being completely rebuilt. But the new construction intersects with the pet cemetery used by U.S. personnel in the days when the Presidio was still a functioning military installation. To preserve the site, the cemetery has been fenced off and left scrupulously undisturbed while a whole world of construction chaos takes place all around it. Quite a spectacle.

Photos by Telstar Logistics

Modern Warplanes Get Vintage Paint to Celebrate the Centennial of Naval Aviation

Although Telstar Logistics celebrated the 100th anniversary of naval aviation a few weeks ago, the event is an ongoing affair for the US Navy. And as part of the commemoration of the "Centennial of Naval Aviation," the Navy is repainting several of its modern aircraft in vintage paint schemes like those used by naval squadrons during decades past. 

Many of these are very cool to see. The photo at top, for example, is an EA-18 Growler painted in the 1944 colors of Air Group 85 aboard USS Shangri-La (CV-34). The photo below that is a T-4 trainer painted in the 1938 colors aircraft wore aboard the original USS Enterprise.

Here's an F-18 Hornet wearing the paint scheme of a F6F Hellcat from 1945:

For comparison's sake, here are a few of those Hellcats, photographed in 1945:

Here's an S-3B, painted to look like a Navy aircraft during the Battle of Midway in 1942:

Some of the commemorative aircraft make for improbable combinations, like this MH-60 helicopter in a late 1944 paint scheme used aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6). That's interesting in a what-if kind of way, because the US Navy didn't operate helicopters in 1944:

Likewise, electronic warfare wasn't practiced much in 1942, but if it was, this EA-6B Prowler electronic countermeasures aircraft would have come in handy as depicted here in the paint scheme US Navy planes wore during the Battle of Coral Sea:

Lots more photos like these, at the US Naval Air Forces photo gallery on Facebook.

Meet the M-ATV, The Pentagon's New Mine-Resistant Offroad Truck

Humvees are vulnerable to attack. MRAPs work well in Iraq, but they're so top-heavy that they tip over easily in Afghanistan, where the hills are steep and roads are often primitive. What's the solution? Check out the new M-ATV, the US military's new go-to vehicle for mounted patrols, reconnaissance, security, convoy protection, communications, command and control and combat service support. It'll do much of the same work as the Humvee, but as you can see, it's a very different vehicle:

From Defense Industry Daily:

Oshkosh Defense’s M-ATV candidate secured a long-denied MRAP win, and the firm continues to remain ahead of production targets. The initial plan expected to spend up to $3.3 billion to order 5,244 M-ATVs for the US Army (2,598), Marine Corps (1,565), Special Operations Command (643), US Air Force (280) and the Navy (65), plus 93 test vehicles. FY 2010 budgets and purchases have pushed this total even higher, and orders now stand at over 8,000.

Watch it in action:

Les Chevaliers du Ciel: Top Gun for Francophiles

If Tom Cruise were French, and if he flew a Dassault Mirage 2000 instead of a Grumman F-14 Tomcat, he might have starred in Les Chevaliers du Ciel, a 2005 film that has been called "Top Gun à la Française."

We haven't seen the actual film, though it's available on Netflix under its English title, "Sky Fighters." But if this fan-made trailer is any indication, Les Chevaliers du Ciel may be a vastly superior piece of mindless entertainment -- if only because much of it was shot using air-to-air cameras.

But don't take our word for it. Bump this video up to full-screen, and see for yourself. Magnifique!

Chapeau tip: Stefan Klocek

Eugene Ely Invented Naval Aviation, Exactly 100 Years Ago In San Francisco

One hundred years is a very long time. Yet in the hierarchy of modern marvels, the ability to recover and launch aircraft from the deck of a moving ship stands out as one of our signature accomplishments. Which just goes to show you: Some tricks never grow old.

Naval aviation was invented one hundred years ago today, on January 18, 1911, when a 24 year-old barnstormer pilot named Eugene B. Ely completed the world's first successful landing on a ship. It happened in San Francisco Bay, aboard the crusier USS Pennsylvania, which had a temporary, 133-foot wooden landing strip built above her afterdeck and gun turret as part of the experiment.

Ely accommplished his feat just eight years after the Wright Brothers made their first flight at Kitty Hawk.His aircraft was rudimentary: a Curtiss Model D "Pusher" biplane equipped with a 60 hp V-8 engine that gave the aircraft a 50 mph airspeed. To get a sense of how simple it was, behold a contemporary replica of Ely's 1911 Curtiss Pusher that was built to celebrate this 100th anniversary:

But back then, innovation was afoot: Ely's Curtis Pusher had been fitted with a clever new invention called a tailhook. The idea was to quickly halt the aircraft after landing by using the tailhook to catch one or two of 22 rope lines -- each propped up a foot above the deck and weighted by 50-pound sandbags tied to each end -- strung three feet apart along the Pennsylvania's temporary flight deck. 

Mark J. Denger of the California Center for Military History has written a tidy biography of Eugene Ely which narrates the historic day:

On the morning of January 18, 1911, Eugene Ely, in a Curtiss pusher biplane specially equipped with arresting hooks on its axle, took off from Selfridge Field (Tanforan Racetrack, in San Bruno, Calif.) and headed for the San Francisco Bay. After about 10 minutes flying North toward Goat Island (now Yerba Buena), Eugene spotted his target through the gray haze  the PENNSYLVANIA. on the morning of January 18, 1911, Eugene Ely, in a Curtiss pusher biplane specially equipped with arresting hooks on its axle, took off from Selfridge Field and headed for the San Francisco Bay. After about 10 minutes flying North toward Goat Island (now Yerba Buena), Eugene spotted his target through the gray haze the PENNSYLVANIA.

Ely's plane was first sighted one-half mile from the PENNSYLVANIA's bridge at an altitude of 1,500 feet, cruising at a speed of approximately 60 mph. Now ten miles out from Tanforan, he circled the several vessels of the Pacific Fleet at anchor in San Francisco Bay. The aeroplane dipped to 400 feet as it passed directly over the MARYLAND and, still dropping, flew over the WEST VIRGINIA's bow at an height of only 100 feet. With a crosswind of almost 15 knots, he flew past the cruiser and then banked some 500 yards from the PENNSYLVANIA's starboard quarter to set up his landing approach.  Ely now headed straight for the ship, cutting his engine when he was only 75 feet from the fantail, and allowed the wind to glide the aircraft onto the landing deck. At a speed of 40 mph Ely landed on the centerline of the PENNSYLVANIA's deck at 11:01 a.m.

The forward momentum of his plane was quickly retarded by the ropes stretched between the large movable bags of sand that had been placed along the entire length of the runway.  As the plane landed, the hooks on the undercarriage caught the ropes exactly as planned, which brought the plane to a complete stop.

Once on board the PENNSYLVANIA, sheer pandemonium brook loose as Ely was greeted with a bombardment of cheers, boat horns and whistles, both aboard the PENNSYLVANIA and from the surrounding vessels.

Ely was immediately greeted by his wife, Mabel, who greeted him with an enthusiastic "I knew you could do it" and then by Captain Pond, Commanding Officer of the PENNSYLVANIA. Then it was time for interviews and a few photographs for the reporters.
 
Everything had gone exactly as planned. Pond called it "the most important landing of a bird since the dove flew back to Noah's ark."  Pond would later report, "Nothing damaged, and not a bolt or brace startled, and Ely the coolest man on board."

(NOTE: Safety first! Check out Ely's inner-tube life preserver!)

After completing several interviews, Ely was escorted to the Captain's cabin where he and his wife were the honored guests at an officers lunch. While they dined, the landing platform was cleared and the plane turned around in preparation for takeoff. Then the Elys, Pond and the others posed for photographs. 57 minutes later, he made a perfect take-off from the platform, returning to Selfridge Field at the Tanforan racetrack where another tremendous ovation awaited him.

Both the landing and take off were witnessed by several distinguished members of both U.S. Army and Navy, as well as state military officials.  Ely had successfully demonstrated the possibility of the aircraft carrier.

Indeed. The US Navy's first aircraft carrier, the USS Langley, was commisioned in 1922 -- eleven years later. But Ely didn't live to witness the milestone; he died just a few months after his historic flight, on October 11, 1911, when he was thrown from his aircraft during a crash at an airshow. But 100 years ago, he merged the power of naval warships and aviation in ways that remain cutting-edge, even today.

 

IMAGES: US Navy Naval Historical Center and 1911 Ely-Curtiss Pusher

 

Vietnam Vets Restore a Vietnam-Era Huey, Go Tearing Across Bay Area

Our friend Allan Hough from MissionMission tells us of a historic Bell UH-1H Iriquois helicopter, the men who used to fly it, and their effort to put it back in the skies:

Spots Unknown is working on a movie about a group of vets and enthusiasts who’ve restored to “combat specs” a Vietnam-era Huey. And they fly it around the Bay Area and look badass.

Today, a teaser trailer was released. It combines shots of these dudes in action with vintage footage of other Hueys actually in the shit. Watch it now (before it gets pulled due to unauthorized — but also badass — use of Led Zeppelin):

As a Plan B, "Ride of the Valkyries" would work too. Plus, Wagner is dead, so he's in no position to unleash any lawyers. Nevertheless, let's roll the video: 

Flight of the Huey - Rock & Roll Teaser from Spots Unknown on Vimeo.

 

China's New Stealth Fighter Takes Its First Test Flight

It's not much of an exaggeration to say that military observers in the United States have been mildly freaked out by the sudden appearance of China's Chengdu J-20 fighter aircraft -- an advanced fifth-generation stealth fighter comparable to America's F-22 Raptor.

The existence of the J-20 was only revealed in public for the first time on December 29, 2010, and now Aviation Week reports that the aircraft has just completed its first test flight:

It looks like the landing gear remained extended throughout the flight and that it may have been a rather modest outing, but we may get more data on that later. A J-10 served as the escort.

There will be much read into the fact the event happened while U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was visiting China, but the event's timing may have more to do with weather aligning properly than geopolitics.

Video footage below:

Inside Enola Gay: A 360-Degree VR View from the Cockpit of a Famous B-29 Superfortress

David Palermo captured a superb VR view of the cockpit of Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Enlarge it to full-screen, and be amazed.

via Indy Transponder.

 

US Navy Plans to Order 20 New Littoral Combat Ships

This is interesting. The Navy has decided to place a big order for a Littoral Combat Ships, a new class of high-speed warship desgined for use in near-shore waters. Even more interesting, the order will be split between two shipyards, each of which will use a different design. The Independence-class, shown at top, is an aluminum trimaran. The Freedom-class, shown beneath, is a semi-planing steel monohull. Both are designed to be fast, versatile, highly networked, and highly automated.

From the New York Times:

Navy officials said that if it exercises all of its options under the contracts, Lockheed Martin would assemble 10 of the coastal warships for $3.62 billion over six years and Austal USA, a unit of an Australian company, would build 10 for $3.52 billion.

The average price for the ships, including combat equipment furnished by the government and other costs, should be about $440 million, or well below a Congressional cap of $538 million per vessel, said Sean J. Stackley, the Navy’s assistant secretary for acquisition.

A week ago, Congress approved the Navy’s plan to use both shipyards instead of buying a smaller number of ships from one of them. The Navy said last month that the bids were surprisingly low and asked the companies to give Congress time to consider the change.

[...]

Naval warfare has shifted from the high seas to coastal areas in recent years, and the ships are supposed to be quick enough to run down small patrol craft and diesel submarines. They are highly automated, with crews of 75 people and equipment modules that can be swapped for different missions, like sweeping for mines or gathering intelligence.

But the companies’ designs are strikingly different. The Lockheed Martin ship, built in Marinette, Wis., has a steel hull, while the Austal model, built in Mobile, Ala., is an aluminum trimaran, a three-hulled vessel unlike any previous Navy design. Over the long term, the Navy hopes to buy 55 of the ships.