US destroyer Donald Cook (photo)

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

There are many obscure moments in this story. The American side does not want to disclose details. The command of the Russian naval aviation also modestly remains silent after a brief informational message broadcast on Cosmonautics Day 2014. However, meager data was enough for the American destroyer "Donald Cook" to become famous throughout the world. This ship is quite new, equipped with everything necessary, and despite the fact that its dimensions are not record-breaking, it could symbolize the naval power of the United States, for which it was sent to the Black Sea. As the circus workers say in such cases, the act failed.

Great plot

In April, near the Russian borders, a drama began to unfold, called the anti-terrorist operation, which in fact became a real civil war. After the successful coup d'état against the rebellious eastern regions, the new Ukrainian authorities sent regular troops with artillery, tanks, tactical ballistic missiles and all other weapons originally made to fight a strong and dangerous external aggressor. Crimea managed to avoid the sadthe fate of the victim, the population of the peninsula voted for independence and joining Russia.

In the midst of this seething turmoil, accompanied by bloodshed, the US destroyer "Donald Cook" entered the Black Sea. One can only guess about the true purpose of this visit, but certain conclusions can be reached by understanding the combat capabilities of this ship.

The Arleigh Burke series and its 25th copy

Americans have their own national heroes, and they name this or that cruiser, frigate or destroyer after them. Donald Cook, captain of the US Marine Corps, fought in Vietnam and died of an illness (malaria) while in captivity. Even in the homeland of this hero, there is no consensus on how fair this war was. The exploits, if any, committed by Cook before his capture are also unknown. However, is it really that important? The captain fought for his country where he was sent and died in 1967. In honor of him, the 25th unit of the most massive post-war series of American warships was named. In total, it is assumed that the number of twins of this destroyer will exceed 60.

Project "Arleigh Burke" seemed to the leadership of the Pentagon so successful that high hopes were placed on it. In 1983, when the lead ship of the series was laid down, it impressed with its contours, technologies used in construction and even appearance.

Surface-to-shore class destroyer

Any naval series consists of ships that are similar in appearance, differing from each otherfrom each other the stronger, the later this or that unit left the stocks. The destroyer "Donald Cook" was launched in 1997, accepted into the fleet in 15 months. This ship cannot be called obsolete, it has a powerful missile armament, is equipped with the most advanced electronic means, is protected from a variety of possible damaging factors and is almost invisible on radars. However, the destroyer has some features due to the nature of specific fire capabilities. The fact is that its onboard anti-ship systems are presented very modestly. Four Harpoon-type cruise missiles (subsonic and small) are clearly not enough to conduct a serious naval battle against a strong enemy. In other words, the destroyer of the US Navy "Donald Cook" is designed to strike at coastal targets in conditions of complete domination and the absence of resistance from the enemy fleet. To do this, he has "Tomahawks" (according to the number of cells under the deck of the CD, there can be up to 90 pieces).

About Aegis

But not only for firing at cities and coastal positions, this ship was created, which cost the military budget a billion (at prices in the second half of the 90s). The main share of this astronomical sum falls on the latest electronics integrated into the design of the hull and superstructures. The multifaceted angular cabin not only serves as a sheathing of the premises, antennas of emitters and receivers of radar signals are mounted on its inclined planes. They sensitively monitor hundreds of possible targets, and, by transmitting information to the computer control complex, provide a safeaccomplishment of a combat mission. The Aegis system operates fifty anti-aircraft missiles capable of hitting ICBMs in near space. The American destroyer "Donald Cook", by design, is a mobile element of the global missile defense system, conducting reconnaissance and automatically, like a robot, developing decisions of a strategic level.

In addition to antennas that are fixed relative to the hull, the ship has another AN / SPY-1 radar that performs many functions, from detecting low-flying objects to monitoring spy satellites.

Destroyer like a ship

It makes sense to dwell on the question of what the destroyer of the US Navy "Donald Cook" is in the navigable sense. The characteristics of the ship are not unique, but they are good. With a full displacement of 8.9 thousand tons, it has a length of 153 meters, a width of 20 m and a draft of 9.4 m. For the manufacture of the underwater part of the hull, non-magnetic high-strength magnesium-aluminum alloys were used, which increases anti-torpedo resistance and reduces visibility for enemy systems detection. The power section, loaded on two propellers, consists of two General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines with a total capacity of 108 thousand liters. With. The maximum speed is 32 knots, the autonomy is 4400 miles (with a cruising speed of 20 knots). The crew consists of 337 crew members, of which 23 are officers. Kubricks and combat posts are protected by durable and lightweight Kevlar panels, which also became a revolutionary solution.

The screws deserve special admiration. These movers tend to give out a shipWith their noise generated as a result of cavitation processes, acoustic stations of submarines can easily determine the type of a moving object, its speed and distance to it. Each blade of the Cook propellers is equipped with a special tubular system that pumps air into the ends of the edges. As a result, a bubble cloud is formed, which distorts the sound "portrait" of the ship and absorbs noise. How justified the funds spent on the development and manufacture of this complex system is unknown, because the destroyer can be detected by many other means of warning.

VET and air defense system

A ship at sea faces many troubles. In the event of war, the enemy shows a persistent desire to let him go to the bottom, and does everything he can for this. He lays mines, sometimes equipped with multiplicity devices (if it is known which one the most important enemy ship will follow in order), they are equipped with fuses of various types. In addition, torpedoes, missiles, and, of course, aviation are used. At the Bath Iron Works shipyards, they took care to protect the US Navy destroyer Donald Cook from all these misfortunes. Its armament includes ASROC-VL anti-submarine missile torpedoes, Stenderd-2 anti-aircraft missiles for intercepting targets at long distances, ESSM anti-aircraft missiles that hit a creeping enemy, and even SM-3 atmospheric interceptors.

Fixing a gap in the anti-ship class, the designers plan to equip the ship with a promising LRASM system. In general, a lot of weapons. But it turned out to be useless.even during a training raid of a not very modern Su-24 bomber. The destroyer "Donald Cook" went blind.

Combat path and experience

From the moment of launching, the ship has not stood idle. At first it was based in Norfolk, since 2012 it has been assigned to the Spanish port of Rota, where the US Navy base is located. In 2000, during the events in Aden, the destroyer "Donald Cook" assisted another ship, the "Cole", rammed by a boat with suicide bombers. The first volley of Tomahawks in Iraq in 2003 was fired by the same Cook. He has been on many long trips, sailed the seas around the world, participated in exercises, including international ones. The crew of the ship demonstrated good training and coordination, high qualifications and a certain courage shown during the execution of tasks.

Chronicle of events

Sparse facts describe the chronology of the entire period of the destroyer's presence in the Black Sea in 2014. The ship passed the Bosphorus on April 10, the Day of the liberation of Odessa from the German-Romanian invaders. For about two days, the formation, which, in addition to Cook, included the Dupuis de Lom naval reconnaissance aircraft, the Alize rescuer and the Duplex destroyer of the French Navy, performed various maneuvers at a relatively short distance from Sevastopol. On April 12, an approaching aircraft appeared on the radar screens, heading straight for the Donald Cook. The destroyer "Su" noticed (even determined the type of aircraft, and the fact that it was not armed), and a combat training alert was announced on the ship. Further events remained a mystery for some time.

Escape

Pentagon officials expressed extreme indignation at the actions of Russian pilots. They characterized them as unprofessional and hostile. The statement was emotional and tough, but confusion was read between its lines. The suddenly famous destroyer Donald Cook, whose photo was published with mocking comments by many media around the world, moored in the Romanian port of Constanta, and 27 demoralized members of his team expressed their desire to resign. The blame for everything is the Russian plane, which allegedly violated every conceivable norm of international law.

Montreux Convention

One of the international maritime treaties referred to by the American side is called the Montreux Convention. According to it, warships of countries that do not have their own water area here can stay no more than 21 days, and their total tonnage cannot exceed 30 thousand tons for each country. The destroyer "Donald Cook" really did not violate this convention, however, shortly before the events described, another US Navy ship, the "Taylor", was somewhat delayed, allegedly repairing the propellers. The purpose of Cook's last visit was clearly to "show the flag", but besides this, the crew, most likely, had one more, secret task.

What if there's a war?

The connection between the presence of the international squadron near the Russian coast and the Ukrainian events, in general, was not disputed or denied by anyone. As the conflict developed, the danger of its transition to a military stage increased. Not buildingillusions about the capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the American side could consider the possibility of providing them with assistance in the form of intelligence information without involving its army in a possible full-scale war. The US Navy destroyer Donald Cook was probably going to collect such information. The parameters of defensive systems, the deployment of air defense systems, communication centers and other important elements of the military structure of the Black Sea Fleet could be of interest to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to which this information would be immediately transferred in case of war.

So what happened?

In fact, nothing terrible happened to the American destroyer. He safely left the inhospitable area of the Black Sea area. The planned visit to Odessa did not take place due to the deep moral trauma experienced by the crew. The reason for this annoyance is the Khibiny compact electronic warfare system, mounted on the console of an unarmed Su-24 bomber that passed a dozen times over the ship at extremely low altitude. Apparently, his belly with oil streaks so upset the Cook's crew as much as the realization of their vulnerability and even helplessness. It would seem that here he is - a likely enemy, and he operates in training mode. So learn, practice the techniques of using your air defense! But the system failed. Temporarily. The Russians didn't even spoil anything, although they could. The plane took off and the Aegis started up again.

Results and conclusions

The gist of the claimsThe Pentagon's attitude to Russian aviation, in general, boiled down to the fact that our pilots showed some kind of impoliteness. Well, perhaps a certain intolerance did take place. Just as impolitely, in 1988, Soviet sailors rammed the US Navy destroyer Caron, which was trying to enter the territorial waters of the USSR. Crimea, indeed, has long attracted foreign squadrons, striving to visit the peninsula not always with friendly intentions.

As for the destroyer "Donald Cook", you should not underestimate its combat capabilities anyway. This is a modern and seriously armed ship, which was modernized in 2012. It is quite possible that he will now have another one.