An Ugly Ship is a Bad Ship

I shouldn't have to explain it to the readership here, but one of the missions of a Navy is to represent its nation. When it pulls in to a port, by her appearance, seamanship and the performance of her crew she demonstrates the character and condition of the nation it serves. That time-tested proof should never be lost by the maritime professional or those who equip their nation's navy.

Sometimes it is good to step away from the words and just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Everyone recalls that LCS-2 made a quick trip to her homeport of San Diego after some "issues" earlier this year. Not a full deployment. Not a North Atlantic winter crossing. Not a tropical Pacific summer station keeping in a remote corner of tropical nothing - just a coast-change.

Here she is in her unpainted transformationalist glory.




Remember, this is by design. Bad design, but design nonetheless. The below is actually the best of the pics I saw after the trip. A combo of lighting, camera and a bit of photoshop makes it look almost like camo - sigh, but it isn't.



She looks better, in a fashion, in low-res video.



Here is part of the problem we have - and that is being a victim of good marketing. Look at the pics and video above and then watch the sales video below. Look at the huge difference in condition. This isn't the fault of the crew either - they only have one body and a 24-hr day.

Now ponder this. If that is what LCS-2 looks like after a short trip to swap ports ... what is she going to look like after a full operational deployment?