PAUL A. CHATTERTON & RICHARD G.

PAQUETTE

The Sea Shadow

THE AUTHORS
Paul A. Chatterton received a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering
from Northeastern University in 1968 and a M.S. in Naval
Architecture & Marine Engineering from the University of
Michigan in 1971. He joined what is now the NAVSEA SEA 03D
organization in 1967 in the Submarine Preliminary Design Group.
He has held positions on a variety of programs including Trident,
AO-177 and RSNF PCG and was the head of the Auxiliary Ship
Preliminary Design Section. Prior to becoming the Sea Shadow
Deputy Program Manager in 1985 he was the Ship Design
Manager for the T-AGOS 19. He assumed his current position as
Sea Shadow Program Manager in 1991.
Richard G. Paquette received a B.S.E. degree in Mechanical /
Electrical Engineering from General Motors Institute in 1972 and
an M.S. in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering from the
University of Michigan in 1977. From 1967 through 1976 he held
a variety of engineering and management positions at General
Motors, primarily in the plant engineering and noise control areas.
After graduate school he spent a year at Ingalls Shipbuilding
performing engineering for nuclear submarine overhauls. Since
1978 he has worked for Lockheed Missiles & Space Co in a variety
of technical and management assignments on advanced ship and
subsurface programs. He was Chief Engineer during the original
construction and operation of the Sea Shadow and returned as the
Lockheed Program Manager for the current efforts.
He is a member of the American Society of Naval Engineers, the
Naval Institute, the American Defense Preparedness Association
and is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of
California.

ABSTRACT
The Sea Shadow, designed, built and tested during the mid
1980's, represents the application of several advanced ship
technologies. The Sea Shadow was recently reactivated and has

been undergoing additional testing at Santa Cruz Island and in

San Francisco Bay.
This paper provides a top level description of the ship and ship
systems, is supported by photos & sketches, and alludes to the
types of data and experience base which exists. The
presentation of the paper includes video of the exterior and
interior of the ship, of ship systems, and of at-sea operations.

BACKGROUND
In the mid 1980's, the US Navy, Advanced Research
Projects Agency (ARPA) and Lockheed Missiles &
Space Company (LMSC) collaborated on an effort to
design, build, and test an advanced surface ship
utilizing a SWATH (Small Water Plane Area Twin
Hull) hull form and incorporating several advanced
technologies. These include ship control, structures,
automation for reduced manning, seakeeping, and
signature control. The purpose of the craft was to
evaluate the performance and applicability of these
technologies to future naval vessels. The Sea Shadow
was designed and constructed at Redwood City,
California within a 27-month period. The ship was
built inside the Hughes Mining Barge (HMB-1), which
also serves as a field test support platform. The Sea
Shadow was recently reactivated, publicly disclosed on
April 11, 1993, and has been undergoing additional
testing at Santa Cruz Island and in San Francisco Bay
(Figure 1, August 1993).

Naval Engineers Journal, May 1994

SEA SHADOW

CHATTERTON/PAQUETTE

Figure 1. Sea Shadow in San Francisco Bay

SHIP DESIGN
Design Philosophy and Criteria
The effectiveness of the Sea shadow as a demonstrator
of advanced technologies for application to future
Navy vessels was enhanced by the design and
construction philosophy selected at the outset as
follows:
The craft should be of appropriate size to allow scale
up of results.
Design features such as frame spacing, bulkhead
penetrations, ventilation systems, stability and safety
criteria; etc, that is, all details where possible, should
be standard US Navy practice. Materials must be those
generally available, workable and applied on US Navy
ships.
The craft should be constructed with those skills and
processes normally found in the shipyard environment.

Operationally, the craft must be able to perform in sea

states appropriate for fully demonstrating the SWATH
technology and associate structure; that is, high sea
states for this size ship.
The craft must be easily maintained and logistically
supportable with minimum training.
That is, create an extremely robust marine vehicle and
only push the envelope were required.
The ship design was based on the following
specifications in order of priority:
General Specifications for Ships of the US Navy
United States Coast Guard Regulations (CFR)
American Bureau of Shipping Rules
Hull structure, damage stability, and vital operational
and safety systems were designed in accordance with
US Navy requirements, while less critical items were
designed to commercial ship standards.
Naval Engineers Journal, May 1994

SEA SHADOW

CHATTERTON/PAQUETTE

One area where standard practices were not followed

was in the selection of the engineering team, both at
Lockheed and in the Navy labs. Effort was spent
during the original design and construction effort, and
also the follow on reactivation effort, to select a design
team with a willingness and ability to provide
continuity to the program. Individuals with design,
construction, test, and at-sea operational experience
were selected.
The obvious enhancement to
communications, and ability to do concurrent efforts,
paid off in efficiency and reduced costs and schedule.
This paid off again later when test data was being
taken, reviewed in-situ, and improvements in the test
taking efforts were incorporated, literally, underway.
General Characteristics
Sea Shadow is unlike conventional SWATH ships in
that it is of "A" Frame configuration; that is, the struts
are canted at an angle to the vertical. Three views of
the ship are shown in Figure 2 and the principle
dimensions are presented in Table 1.
The "A" frame configuration was driven by a variety of
program criteria. Figure 3 depicts the results of model
tank tests performed as part of an ID project exploring
heave performance for strut angle versus wave period.

Displacement
Overall Length
Beam, Maximum
Draft
Lower Hull Dia, Max
Upper Hull Clearance
Propulsion
Sea State
Operate
Survive
Range*
Payload Capability

560 LT.
164 Ft
68 Ft
14.5 Ft
10 Ft
8 Ft
Diesel Electric
SS-4
SS-5
1000NM @ 10 Kt
51 LT.

* Required range; tank volume accomodates 2250 NM

Table 1. Sea Shadow Principle Characteristics

This series of tests shows the significant reduction of
ship motions for the 45 selected strut angle in the
wave periods and sea states of interest for this size
ship. The hydrodynamic mechanism exhibited by
canted struts is due to an increase in the added mass
and damping coefficients. The result is that Sea
Shadow has motions in a seaway equivalent to a 4000
to 5000 LT 'H' Frame SWATH. [1]

Q4-1010/010

Figure 2. Sea Shadow

Naval Engineers Journal, May 1994

SEA SHADOW

CHATTERTON/PAQUETTE
SWATH ships exhibit a characteristic pitch down
moment as the submerged lower hulls ride parallel to
the surface. In the Sea Shadow the lower hulls were
tilted bow up in the plane of the struts. This change
provides an upward moment that increases high speed
stability. This pitch up also reduced resistance and
increases propeller immersion aft to minimize
cavitation and occurrence of ventilation in a seaway.
The struts are also "toed" outward further reducing
sinkage and trim, normally common to SWATH ships,
over the entire speed range. A further advantage of the
"toed" out struts is that, in combination with the
desired lines of the upper hull, the ship is deeper
forward where two decks are desired for arrangement
purposes.
The added height provides sufficient
headroom for two full decks forward of the engine
room.
Another feature is the control surfaces. The Sea
Shadow has forward and after fins that, in addition to
being actively used for seakeeping, are used
differentially for steering. Fins are mounted on the
inboard side of the lower hulls as shown in Figures 2
and 4. The forward fins (canards) are mounted
approximately 15 degrees below horizontal and can
rotate +/- 27 degrees. The aft fins (stabilizers) are
similar to the canards, but 50% larger in area.

0
STRUT CANT
15
30

8
12
16
WAVE PERIOD IN SECONDS

45

HEAVE AMPLITUDE
WAVE HEIGHT

HEAVE MOTION RESPONSE

CANTED STRUTS

20
Q4-1010/005

Figure 4. Starboard Lower Hull; Canard and

Stabilizer Fins

Figure 3. SWATH "A" frame tests; strut angle vs

heave response
Additionally, the Sea Shadow contains three unique
inventions developed and patented by Lockheed which
have contributed to the exceptional sea keeping
performance.
In addition to canting, the strut leading and trailing
edges are cambered in section profile to minimize
resistance, sinkage and trim while underway.

The stabilizers provide excellent turn control and

eliminate the need for conventional rudders; an
extremely significant departure. Not only does it
reduce the number of ship systems, but it also
eliminates the structural difficulty of mounting a rudder
aft of the propeller. Without a rudder aft, the lower
hull may be elongated as appropriate for provision of
additional buoyancy aft and restoration of ship
hydrodynamic balance.
That is, the center of
buoyancy of the lower hull is made close
(longitudinally) to that of the waterplane. Because of
Naval Engineers Journal, May 1994

SEA SHADOW

CHATTERTON/PAQUETTE

cleanliness of flow in front of the propeller, there is

also the bonus of a significant improvement in
propeller efficiency. This design, in principle, was
subsequently incorporated on the US Navy T-AGOS
19 and 23 SWATHs. [2] [3]

counterflood to reduce heel to less than 15

degrees in 10 minutes
final static heeled/trimmed waterline below
wet deck
General Arrangements
The inboard profile of the Sea Shadow is depicted in
Figure 5. The arrangement is fairly typical with bridge,
living spaces, electronics and auxiliary machinery
spaces forward. Amidships are the generator and
switchboard spaces. Aft of the machinery spaces is the
payload space, Figure 6, which was sized to
accommodate a variety of test equipment. Currently
the equipment used to measure and record ship motions
and structural loads data is mounted in this space. An
auxiliary machinery space aft of the payload space
provides clean power, air conditioning, and chilled
water for any equipment, berthing, or other
combination of payload space uses. Additionally, there
are significant unused volumes in the lower hulls and
upper hull aft. The only unusual arrangement feature is
the aft location of the anchor which was done to free up
prime real estate forward.

In a SWATH configuration the lower hulls can be

shaped to minimize wave drag at a chosen speed by
favorable interference between struts and hulls. The
configuration of the Sea Shadow lower hulls
incorporate modest 'Coke Bottle' shaping to minimize
resistance.
Stability
The Sea Shadow was designed to meet or exceed the
requirements of DDS 079-1; Design Data Sheet,
Stability and Buoyancy of US Naval Surface Ships.
The following stability criteria were used:
Intact stability
beam wind and rolling due to waves
crowding of personnel to one side
high speed turn
topside icing

The struts contain fuel and ballast tankage and access

to the lower hulls.

Damage stability
two adjacent compartments flooded
initial heel less than 20 degrees

A NCHO R WINDLA S S ROOM

2-93-O-T
I NLE T TRUCK
2-88-O-T
FA N ROO M
2-84-O-Q

I NLE T
P LENUM

A UXI LARY
MA CHINE RY ROOM NO 1
3-8-4-Q

S ECOND DECK
S ECOND DECK
WE T DE CK

ANCHOR
STOWAGE

BHD 93
B HD 84

4-93-01- Q

CHAI N LO CK E R
4-93-0-Q

V OID
5-84-2-V

VOID
4-72-O-V

VOID
4-60-O-V BHD 60

FUE L/T RIM

TA NK
5-72-2-F

B ALLA ST /
TRI M TA NK
5-60-2-W

ACCESS
TRUNK

P AS SA GE
6-60-2-L

STABILIZER/PROPULSION
MOTOR ROOM
6-72-2-Q

V OID
6-36-2-V

P AS SA GE
6-48-2-L

COUNTERFLOOD

DIS TRI BUT IV E

S YS TE M TRUCK
4-72-2-T

105

100

95

P UMP ROOM
6-24-2-Q

CA NA RD ROO M
6-8-2-Q

V OID
6-0-2-V

V OID
6-T-2-V

B AS ELI NE

S TE RN TUB E

110

MA I N DE CK
S ECOND DECK

E LECTRO NI C/ BOSUN
AUX MACHY (P)
BERTHI NG/ WSHRM(S) GRY RO ROO M STOREROOM
3-D-O-C
4-U-O-A
VOID
BHD 24
4-24-O-V
V OID
5-D-2-V
FI RST P LAT FORM
ACCESS FUE L/T RIM
B ALLA ST /
V OID
TRI M TA NK TRUNK
TA NK
DWL
4-8-2-V
5-8-2-F
5-24-2-W

VOID
VOID
4-48-O-VBHD 48 4-36-O-V

DWL

A UXI LARY
MA CHINE RY
ROOM NO 2
4-84-0-Q

GA LLEY / PA SS A GE B RIDGE
2-8-O-Q
2-D-O-C

GE NERA TOR
ROOM
2-24-O-Q

SWITCHGEAR
ROOM PORT
QUARTERDECK/
ACCESS STBD

P AY LOA D S PA CE
2-48-O-Q

90

85

80

75

70

65

60

S UMP TA NK
6-32-2-F

FZ

FZ

48

55

50
M

45
S

40

36

30

25

20

15

10

PORT SHOWN
STARBOARD OPPOSITE HAND
Q4-1010/009

Figure 5. Sea Shadow inboard profile

Naval Engineers Journal, May 1994

SEA SHADOW

CHATTERTON/PAQUETTE
The Sea Shadow weight statement is shown in Table 2.
The unusually high percent payload capacity results
from meeting the design displacement, without margin,
within 0.5%.
SHIP STRUCTURE
Hull Description
The major structural elements of the Sea Shadow are
the upper hull, the struts, and the lower hulls as shown
in the Midship Section, Figure 7.
Structural
arrangement and sizing of the individual elements is
based on the loading distribution determined by finite
element analysis.

Figure 6. Payload space

Each lower hull is segregated into eight water tight
compartments consisting of a propulsion drive space,
fin control rooms, a pump room, a counterflood space,
and voids. Access is via watertight trunks which lead
from the first platform (forward) or second deck (aft)
down the struts.

The main transverse watertight bulkheads, the shell and

the bulkhead (second) deck constitute the watertight
envelope and subdivision. The watertight bulkheads in
the lower hulls, struts and in the upper hull below the
bulkhead deck are generally spaced 15 feet apart.
Transverse frames consist of deep web frames spaced 7
ft 6 in. apart with two intermittent frames. Ring frames
in the lower hulls are on 2 ft 6 in. centers.

The shell plating on the underside of the upper hull is

referred to as the "wet deck". The diesels, HVAC, and
tanks all vent through the wet deck into the "tunnel"
area between the struts. All water intakes and
overboards are located in the lower hulls below the
water line .
Wt Group

Long Tons

LCG

Q4-1010/011

VCG

Hull Structure
321.4
58.2
19.8
Propulsion Plant
19.2
119.5
5.8
Electrical Plant
41.2
51.5
28.5
Command and
Surveillance
9.1
32.0
24.8
Auxiliary Systems 61.1
60.8
15.5
Outfit and
Furnishings
20.1
43.9
22.4
Variable Loads
36.9
39.2
19.2
Payload capacity
51.0
80.0
19.6
________________________________________
Total
560.0
59.9
19.6
Table 2. Sea Shadow Weight Statement
Access to the ship's interior is through one of three
points of entry; the main hatch located amidship on the
starboard side which also serves as the quarterdeck and
shore connection point: a main deck hatch located
forward above the galley area: and a main deck hatch
located aft at the auxiliary machinery room. There is a
ventilation and combustion air inlet over the generator
room and a ventilation inlet at the aft access.

Figure 7. Midship Section

Design Criteria
The loading conditions are divided into primary and
secondary loads. The primary loads are defined as the
overall loads which are induced in the structure by the
motion of the ship in a seaway. For the Sea Shadow,
the maximum values are expressed in terms of a
transverse bending moment at the armpit and a
corresponding torsional moment. The Sea Shadow is
designed to survive in Sea State 5. Numerical values
for maximum expected lifetime conditions are shown
in Table 3. Secondary loading is defined as the local
influence of externally applied forces on a restricted
area of the structure. These loads are generally
additive to the primary loads.
Primary Loads
maximum lifetime
bending moment
maximum lifetime torsion

7,850 ft-tons
4,300 ftton

Naval Engineers Journal, May 1994

SEA SHADOW
maximum lifetime whipping
slam pressure
Secondary loads
hydrostatic (operational)
hydrostatic (max heel)
hydrostatic (wave impact)
control surface
wave slap
secondary bulkheads
wind loading
ice loading
deck loads

CHATTERTON/PAQUETTE
4,300 ftton
30 psi (peak)

600/440V
XFMR

10 psi max
16 psi max
500 psf max
1,000 psf
2 psi
100 knots
6 inch thick
100-300 psf

PORT

SWTCHGR
SCR'S

750 KW
600V GEN

DIESEL

STBD

OIL LUBE
S.T. BRG

FLEX
COUPLING

800 HP
DC PROP
MOTOR

TILT PAD
THRUST BRG 4:1
PROP

BRIDGE
CONTROL
COMMON
BEDPLATE
RESILIANT
MOUNTS

REDUCTION
GEAR

Q4 -1 01 0 /00 6

Table 3. Primary and Secondary Loads

Associated with the above loading conditions are 2
stress criteria:
Primary design stress
Maximum allowable stress
The primary design stress is based on an empirical
criteria which has evolved to ensure the compatibility
of the ship's lifetime stress history with the fatigue
characteristics of the material. For the Sea Shadow, a
maximum stress of 35 ksi in the HY-100 for combined
strut bending, torsion and still water bending loads was
used. Under the most critical combination of primary
and secondary loading, the stress levels are limited to
the allowables defined in Section 100a of the General
Ship Specification and NAVSEA Structural Design
manual. These values are 66.5 ksi for HY-100 and 40
ksi for HSS.
PROPULSION SYSTEM
The diesel-electric propulsion system provides for a
maximum speed of 15 knots, sustained speed of 13
knots, and a cruising speed of 9 knots.
The propulsion system, shown in Figure 8, is
comprised of a 800 HP DC electric motor coupled to
the propeller through a 4:1 planetary gear box, a large
non-lubricated flex coupling and shafting assembly, a
thrust bearing assembly, and propeller shaft with oillubricated stern tube bearings. The propellers are
three-bladed and of stock design. However, due to the
clean inflow, a high level of efficiency and low
waterborne noise level is experienced. The entire
arrangement is isolation mounted to minimize noise
and vibration. The port and starboard propulsion
systems are essentially identical.

Figure 8. Sea Shadow power generation and

propulsion system
The propulsion motor is cooled by circulating the
compartment air through an air-to-seawater heat
exchanger which then ducts upward and directly into
the motor. A land-based test site, incorporating all
elements in Figure 8, excluding the thrust bearing and
propeller but including resilient mounts and propulsion
system cooling, was constructed to allow concurrency
in ship development and reduce risk. Propulsion power
is the main component of ship's electrical load. For
this reason, generated voltage was selected as 600
VAC as that proved the most efficient transformation
to the 750 VDC required by the selected propulsion
motors.
POWER GENERATION AND DISTRIBUTION
The design criteria for the power generation and
distribution system was based on:
IEEE std 45; 1983
USCG 259
General Specifications for Ships of the US Navy
NEC
There are two diesel generators sets; each consisting of
a Detroit Diesel 12v-149TI driving a Kato generator.
Each set is capable of providing 750 KW, 600 VAC, of
continuous power. An accessory drive mount on the
forward end of each engine drives a servo-controlled
hydraulic pump which provides hydraulic power for
the ship's stabilizers and canards. Each engine
generator set is sound isolation mounted to the hull and
all connections to the engines are by flexible couplings.
The switch gear provides for independent or parallel
operation of the generators and contains two motor
control units for power supply to the propulsion
motors. The motor control units provide, from the
600V bus, a controlled D.C. output voltage by phase
chopping and full wave rectification of the 3 phase
voltage. Forward / reverse operation is controlled by
reversing the propulsion motor field current. Dynamic
Naval Engineers Journal, May 1994

SEA SHADOW
braking and power regeneration is employed during
deceleration.
The 600 volt bus also provides power to other ship
systems via a 600V/480V transformer. Major rotating
equipment is powered via forward and aft 480V power
load centers. Driven from the 480V bus are two 25
KW MG sets (forward) and one 100 KW MG set (aft)
to provide for ship's clean power requirements at
208/120V, 3 phase. The 100 KW MG set is currently
unused
The 480V bus also provides power,
transformed to a 208/120V 3 phase bus, for ship's
lighting and other low voltage equipment.
The switchgear operator, via his panel, gives control of
all rotating equipment to the bridge where monitoring
and control is normally done. In an emergency, the
switch gear operator may start and control the diesels,
including paralleling, and may control all rotating
equipment, including the propulsion motors. As a
backup, at each piece of equipment, except for the
propulsion motors, there are local controllers.
AUXILIARY SYSTEMS
Auxiliary systems were built using General
Specifications for Ships and USCG specifications as
basic design criteria for all critical systems. When
applicable, for less critical systems, best commercial
marine practice was utilized. The auxiliary systems
include:
Firemain and Auxiliary Sea Water
Trim and Ballast
Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
Potable Water
Fuel Fill and Transfer
Fire Fighting
Dewatering
Hydraulics
Seawater systems combine the firemain and the
auxiliary seawater system and is distributed throughout
the vessel. It provides pressurized seawater for:
Fire fighting
Sea water cooling
Ballast and deballast
Emergency dewatering
Four 375 gallon firepumps are provided, two located in
each lower hull pump room.
Maximum diesel
generator, propulsion, and auxiliary cooling loads are
met with two pumps running at one time. Pump
controls are provided locally as well as at the
Engineering Station. System health is monitored
remotely at the Engineering Station as well as at
numerous local pressure stations.

CHATTERTON/PAQUETTE
Trim and ballast system provides the capability to trim/
ballast the ship at rates in excess of 1800 lbs/min
(ballasting) and 1600 lbs/min (deballasting).
HVAC systems provide climate control to all
electronics equipment locations (bridge, electronics /
gyro room, switchgear room), the berthing area and the
payload space. The ventilation system is partitioned
into three firezones with isolation control accomplished
from the Engineering Station.
There is 100%
redundancy in the four chilled water plant systems that
serve the air conditioning systems.
Potable water can be produced using an onboard
reverse osmosis plant at a rate of 400 GPD. There is
stowage capacity for 400 gallons. Fresh water is
distributed to the galley as well as the sanitary facility.
Sea Shadow fueling is done through a semi-automatic
control station located at the Engineering Station. Fuel
may be transferred to and from any one of the four
main fuel tanks as well as the two service tanks located
in the diesel generator space. The fuel transfer system
may also be used in ship trimming operations.
The ship's fire fighting systems exceed Navy and
USCG requirements.
A distributed, remotely
controlled Halon system, interconnected with the local
ventilation system and with audible and visual alarms,
is installed in each propulsion motor room, in each
pump room, and in the diesel generator space. CO2
and dry chemical fire extinguishers and AFFF systems
are located in all appropriate spaces. A USN approved
supervised fire alarm panel is located on the bridge
with smoke, heat, and CO detectors located throughout
the ship.
Four emergency dewatering stations, both remotely and
locally controlled, are located in the lower hulls. These
can be controlled at the Engineering Station.
Additional dewatering capability is provided by
submersible (portable) pumps located throughout the
ship.
Provisions are made for mooring and towing the ship
in up to 40 Kt winds and 2Kt currents. Towing is
possible at up to 5 Kts via the forward hatch mooring
bitts located on the main deck as well as through a
penetration located in the wet deck at the bow.
Redundant pressure compensated hydraulic pumps
provide the fluid power for the control surfaces
(canards and stabilizers) and opening / closing the main
hatch. The 16 gpm, 3000 psi pumps are direct driven
off of a power takeoff located on the forward end of
each diesel. These pumps are controlled and monitored
from the Engineering Station.

Naval Engineers Journal, May 1994

SEA SHADOW
Dockside replenishment and servicing is done via
interface connections located amidship on the starboard
side adjacent to the main access hatch.
COMMAND & CONTROL
All Sea Shadow systems are designed to provide the
highest level of availability while minimizing manning
requirements including crew, operations support, and
maintenance personnel. To support this requirement,
the Sea Shadow's bridge provides sufficient monitoring
and control capability to allow operation of the craft
with three personnel on duty; captain/helmsman,
navigator, and chief engineer. The computer systems
operated by these individuals included:

CHATTERTON/PAQUETTE
conditions. The system is configurable underway
directly from the helmsman's panel.
A separate control mode implements a series of
heading commands from the navigation computer to
follow a track. The navigator plans the track, and
inputs a series of waypoints and course changes. For
some tests, this consisted of a series of 18 heading
changes. In this autocourse mode, the ship will follow
the track through the series of heading changes to the
accuracy of the navigation system.

Motion Control Computer

Navigation Computer
Hiper-D Computers
Engineering /Alarms Computer
Fuel /Ballast System(s) Computer
For support of the test personnel normally onboard, for
extended shift operations, and for safety, a complement
of ten to twelve is normally on board.
The Sea Shadow's command and control system
architecture was developed (hardware & software) in
two years with a 2 1/2 man-level commitment. It was
advanced for the time it was originally created; still is
by many standards, and retains much of the original
hardware. However, the original 8088 computers have
been replaced with 486's and the assembler code and
Fortran software that was required for speed has been
upgraded to C+, which makes field maintenance of
software much easier. The systems comprising
command and control, the Ship Control System and the
Engineering Station, and recent modifications, are
described below.
Ship Control System
The captain/helmsman and navigator man the Motion
Control Console, Figure 9, and operate the craft
through the Motion Control Computer assisted by the
Navigation Computer. The Motion Control ("MC")
Computer provides manual and automatic control
modes for heading, turn-rate, sea-keeping (pitch and
roll control), and speed.
Heading is normally
controlled by differential stabilizer angle but can be
controlled by differential propulsion control.
Differential stabilizer angle provides good heading
control down to speeds as low as 0.5 Kt. Normally,
roll is controlled by differential canard angle and pitch
angle by collective canard angle. The Motion control
system is very flexible in that canard, stabilizer and
propeller system gains, and the ability to cross link the
systems through the computer, allows an optimum
configuration for meeting heading and ship motion
requirements for ambient sea state, current, and wind

Figure 9. Sea Shadow bridge and Motion Control

Console
Every automatic mode can be overridden by manual
control inputs or may be immediately disengaged by a
single push-button. Backup electrical controls for fins,
and an emergency hand pump, are located at the
hydraulic panel next to each fin. Back up control of
propulsion motors is at the switchgear. All fin angle
and propulsion motor data, both commanded and
actual, is recorded to an optical disc for future
reference.
Navigation System
When constructed, the Sea Shadow's primary
navigation sensors were a Mk-27 gyrocompass, a
vertical reference (pitch/roll) gyro, and a Doppler
sonar.
A commercial LORAN-C receiver and
SATNAV Omega were kept aboard but seldom used
during test operations.
Recent test operations involved aircraft and other ships.
In order to coordinate their movements safely and
efficiently and to gather and record correlating data
critical to the tests, the existing navigation system was
upgraded with the addition of a compact ring-lasergyro INU, a differential GPS system (NATS described
below) and a dedicated navigational computer; see
Figure 13. The original sensors, and their feed through
the MC computer, were retained for cost purposes and

Naval Engineers Journal, May 1994

SEA SHADOW
the sensor data sent from the MC to the navigation
computer.
The VME-bus Navigation Computer hosts a custom
Kalman filter which polls all navigational sources
available, assesses the fidelity of data coming from
each one, and provides the best weighted position data
to the operator, and the MC computer, including a dead
reckoning position if there is a gap in data. Using the
Navigation Computer, the navigator enters way-points
and course lines on its CRT chart display. A moving
chart symbol shows the ship's current position,
heading, and recent track on the screen. Distance and
time to next waypoint, cross-track error, and coursemade-good data, as well as position, heading, course
and speed are displayed numerically.
The NATS, Navigation and Telemetry System, consists
of six identical Navigation and Telemetry Units
(NATUs) each containing a commercial differential
GPS, a transceiver, and an MS-DOS computer. Each
NATU can stand alone and provide GPS data to the
user. In differential mode, each NATU transmits,
every second, its own GPS position and velocity and
receives the GPS positions and velocities of all other
NATUs over the telemetry net. In this mode, the
NATS provides very accurate relative position data.
For the majority of Sea Shadow testing, a NATU
located at a fixed, surveyed location generated and
transmitted the differential corrections for the GPS
receivers of the other units thus providing very
accurate absolute positioning data.
A separate PC, in some cases a laptop, processed data
from the NATU and displayed the positions of all
NATU equipped ships and aircraft on its screen. As in
the Sea Shadow's navigation computer, way points,
course-lines, and numerical data blocks could be
shown for each ship or aircraft. In the case of the Sea
Shadow, the telemetry link also bused the ship INU
and Gyro data to off board data collection systems.
All data transmitted on the net were recorded to
support post-test data analyses.
In the course of test operations, NATUs were installed
on a destroyer, a frigate, a USCG 82-ft cutter, a work
boat, and two aircraft. Despite wind and current,
crewmen quickly became adept at hitting critical
waypoints within a few meters and a few seconds of
the test's plans. Positioning accuracy is within 2 to 3
meters, and attitude data, including heading, accurate
to a milliradian or less.
Engineering Station
The Engineering Station contains the hardware and
software for the Engineer to control and monitor the
ship's machinery via the Engineering/Alarms ("A"
Computer) and the Fuel/Ballast ("B" Computer)
Systems, Figure 10, and additional systems. This

CHATTERTON/PAQUETTE
station provides for centralized monitoring and control
of the ship's operating machinery and includes the
following:
Firemain and Seawater cooling
Diesel generator control
Bilge and hatch alarms
Emergency dewatering
Propulsion lube oil
Hydraulic system
Oily Waste
Fuel transfer
Sea water trim and ballast control
CCTV
Watertight door control
Firealarm system
Overboard valve condition indicators
Damage control and isolation
Data recording system

Figure 10. Sea Shadow; Engineering Station at

bridge's aft bulkhead
Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) are located throughout
the ship, Figure 11. RTUs contain solid state relays for
control of rotating equipment, valves, etc; signal
conditioners for controlling and digitizing data from
pressure, temperature, level, speed, valve position and
other sensors, an up down data link microprocessor for
communicating with the Engineering Station
computers, and a local uninteruptable power supply.
As an example, Remote Terminal Unit No. 6 (RTU-6)
controls servo-mechanisms and reports the output of
sensors in the port-aft lower hull, as follows:
Firemain /Aux SW

4 valve operators
1 pressure sensor

Propulsion Lube Oil

2 pump controllers
3 pressure sensors
3 level indicators
3 temperature gauges

Naval Engineers Journal, May 1994

10

SEA SHADOW

CHATTERTON/PAQUETTE

Hydraulics

The location of the Engineering Station on the bridge

provides for good communications of all plant
conditions to the helmsman and navigator, and, from
the helmsman and navigator to the engineer, system
performance requirements for upcoming tests. A
summary diagram of the main elements of Sea
Shadow's computer control system are shown in Figure
12.

3 pressure sensors

Emergency Dewatering 2 valves

1 pressure sensor
Bilge

4 alarms

Damage Control

2 indicators

All the functions monitorable and controlled from the

Engineering Station are monitorable and controllable
locally at the system via motor controllers, manually
operable valves, temperature & pressure gauges, etc.
The Engineer always has excellent, timely oversight
and control over the overall plant lineup and best
information of current system readiness conditions.
Time to assess problems is greatly reduced by allowing
the engineer to modify his plant lineup and quickly
identify and isolate problems. Through the data
logger, a running record of all system information is
kept to support the engineer in planning upcoming
maintenance actions and preventative maintenance
requirements and in assessing modifications to systems
for improved performance. Logged data is also used
for training engineering personnel on equipment
lineups for a variety of operating conditions and
subsequent sensor indications which may be expected.

Hiper-D Control System

Under ARPA's sponsorship, Sea Shadow's Command
and Control system was modified during reactivation to
include ARPA's High Performance Distributed (HiperD) computer system.
The three computers and
Ethernet shown to the right of the dashed line in Figure
12 were added. When Hiper-D was turned on, the
functions of the A, B, and MC computers were
distributed among the three Hiper-D computers, while
the A, B, and MC computers themselves performed
two-way data transfer only. The following key features
were demonstrated:
Distributed processing for ship control
Fault tolerance of computer failure while in
Hiper-D mode
Recovery to the ship's original system from a
Hiper-D system failure
Ability to rehost an existing marine control
software on a Hiper-D system

LOWER HULL (PORT)

PASSAGE
PROPULSION/STABLIZER
ROOM

RTU-6

PUMP RM
FXTU-4

CANARD RM
RTU-4

FXTU-2
BRIDGE
RTU-2

DGDU-2

COMPUTER
B

DGDU-2

DIESEL GENERATOR RM
SWITCH GEAR RM

DGDU-1

COMPUTER
A

DGDU-1

RTU-1

UPPER
HULL

FXTU-1

RTU-5

FXTU-3

RTU-3

LOWER HULL (STBD)

Q4-1010/007

Figure 11. Sea Shadow Ship Control System - Engineering Station communication link to RTUs (Remote
Terminal Units) throughout the ship

Naval Engineers Journal, May 1994

11

SEA SHADOW

CHATTERTON/PAQUETTE

PROP MOTORS

MOTION
CONTROL
PAN EL

S ERVO
AMP
RACK

HD -1
CMPTR

HDG GRYO
VERT GRYO
DOPPLER

NA V
SENSORS
INU

HD -2
CMPTR
NA V
CMPTR

ETHERNET

CONTROL FINS

MC
CMPTR

TLM X CVR
GP S RX

NA TU

FUE L X FER &

BALLAST SY S
E LEM ENTS
E NGI NEE RI NG &
ALARMS SY S
E LEM ENTS

PANEL
INDICATORS

FUE L X FER
TE RM UNIT S
(FXT Us)

B
CMPTR

REM OTE TE RM
UNITS (RTUs)

A
CMPTR

HD -3
CMPTR

PANEL
INDICATORS
& SWITCHES

Q4-1010/008

Figure 12. Sea Shadow Ship Control System, showing baseline system (left) and modifications to incorporate
High Performance-Distributed (Hiper-D) Computer system (right).
Internal Communications
There are three independent systems for internal voice
communications. A two-channel commercial marine
intercom system (21-MC) for normal use, a general
announcement system (1-MC), and for emergency use
a sound-powered phone system. The latter two
systems connect every man-accessible space. In
addition, a closed circuit television system permits
remote monitoring of the propulsion motor, stabilizer,
canard, auxiliary machinery and generator rooms from
the bridge, galley, and electronics rooms with display
at the Engineering Station.

Francisco Bay. The site combines engineering and

analysis, machine shop and metal forming equipment,
internal and external welding pads, 480' of pier
frontage , and a floating dry dock; the Hughes Mining
Barge, HMB-1. The construction approach was based
on the following elements:

External Communications
Sea Shadow is equipped with a UHF antenna that
serves the primary external communications
equipment. Connected to it via a 4-port tunable
coupler are WSC-3 and ARC-128 transceivers for clear
voice, secure voice, telemetry (from the NATU), and
Link 11 Navy Tactical Data System.

Process development and validation by the

Module Prototype Project prior to welding
modules constructed of thin HY-100 plate

In addition, a standard marine VHF and a cellular

telephone, with externally mounted antennas, act as
backups.

Integrated land based testing of generators,

switch gear and total propulsion system prior to
installation.

SHIP DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION

Full scale bridge mockup to develop and test

Ship Control and Engineering Station hardware
and software prior to integration with the ship.

The Sea Shadow was designed and built in just under

27 months at Lockheed Missiles & Space Company's
Redwood City facility on the south end of San

Concurrency of design, construction and system

test phases.
Sea Shadow assembly inside the HMB-1 floating
drydock.

Modular hull construction based on fabrication

of structural units at four facilities throughout
the country and at Redwood City.

Naval Engineers Journal, May 1994

12

SEA SHADOW

CHATTERTON/PAQUETTE

The Sea Shadow structure was designed for modular

construction.
Due to schedule requirements the
sections were built in a number of shipyards and steel
fabrication facilities. A construction fixture was erected
in the HMB and a series of benchmarks was
established by use of laser surveying equipment.
Measurement of barge deformation due to tidal
changes was measured and accounted for. Hull
sections were landed on the fixture in the HMB and
were outfitted prior to joining the adjacent modules.
Even though one engineer and one QA inspector were
tasked with traveling from yard to yard to control and
inspect module dimensions, there still was concern that
there may be offsets at module joints from different
yards that would exceed the construction tolerances.
To guard against this, modules were landed with a gap
of about one foot between adjacent components. In
making the welded joints, two joints were actually
made and some fairing could be accomplished if
required.

15

16

14

8
9
5
4
10
6

2
1

Figure 14. Sea Shadow hull module fixturing inside

the HMB-1, Redwood City CA
During this period a number of tests were conducted to
verify the adequacy of the design and construction. In
one of these, the strut armpits were extensively straingauged and large hydraulic jacks were used to simulate
the heaviest at-sea loads the ship might see. The
actual stresses compared very favorably with the
predicted stresses.

13

11

was then removed. Prior to going to sea for the first

time the ship was landed on rubber doughnut docking
blocks which have been routinely used ever since.

12
7

Module Prototype Project

The objective of the Module Prototype Project was to
determine if the Sea Shadow module joint design,
selected high strength, thin steel materials, and close
tolerance requirements, were compatible with standard

1A

Q4-1010/004
3

46'-0"
Figure 13. Sea Shadow hull modules
The first Section landed, 15 months before going to
sea, was section 1 shown in Figure 13. The lower hull
sections were placed in the HMB but initially were not
aligned so as to permit installation of machinery prior
to welding the sections together. After the three center
upper hull modules were in place, the bulkheads were
erected and the long main deck edge stringers were put
in place. The alignment of these was critical to
meeting the tolerance in all the upper hull shell plating
and the main deck.
The last sections to be landed were the struts, which
were not put in until the lower hulls were aligned and
welded together, Figure 14. While the struts were being
erected, the upper hull was resting on the construction
fixture and the lower hulls were resting on timers set
up on the deck of the HMB. After the struts were
welded, the lower hulls were jacked up to put the total
ship weight on the blocks. The construction fixture

16'-6"

Figure 15. Module Prototype Project test module

shipyard practices in a normal environment. An
additional objective was to identify production
Naval Engineers Journal, May 1994

13

SEA SHADOW
procedures and techniques, time estimates and cost
factors for Sea Shadow module fabrication. To serve
this purpose, a sample portion of the Sea Shadow hull,
including all challenging aspects required for the final
structure, was designed at Redwood City and then built
at Lockheed Shipbuilding.
The final Module Prototype assembled structure,
consisting of four modules, is shown in Figure 15. The
structure was primarily HY-100 plate with HSS
stiffeners, complied with NAVSHIPS 0900-000-1000,
and generally satisfied Section 074 of the LSD-41
Class Specification then being built in the Seattle
Shipyard. The final report addressed such items as
producibility instructions, distortion control, weld
procedures, jigs, erection sequence and quality
assurance. The processes and techniques developed
under the Module Prototype Project established that the
Sea Shadow structural design, including required
tolerances, could be achieved by a shipyard or steel
fabricator.
Bridge Development
The details of the methods used to design and build the
Sea shadow in such a short period would be the subject
of an expanded discussion. In this paper, we briefly
mentioned the propulsion system land based test and
the modular approach to the structure. A short
discussion of how one of the most innovative elements
of the Sea Shadow was developed is warranted here.
The main body of the design engineering team at
Redwood City worked in what, at the time, was an
unheated and uncooled warehouse on a concrete pad.
On the same concrete pad next to the drafting area was
erected a foam core mockup of the bridge, Figure 16.
This mockup was used to display structural details to
shipfitters and to develop the Ship Control panel and
Engineering Station. This mockup was also used to
finalize operator habitability aspects including ability
to observe and operate all console features easily,
ability to layout and use charts and logs, and the ability
to see out the windows. All hardware and software for
the Ship Control system and Engineering Station were
developed, integrated, and fully tested in this mockup..
Once the basic size and other aspects of the bridge
were confirmed from the mockup, construction of the
actual bridge outer structure began and continued
concurrently with integration of hardware in the
mockup. Figure 17 shows the condition of the actual
bridge, shown receiving part of the shell structure, just
65 days prior to dock trials.
In addition, the Sea Shadow, a radically new hull form
at the time, was initially required to conduct all launch
and recoveries from the HMB-1 during the dark of
night. A simulator was created that allowed the
helmsman to operate the propulsion control throttles

CHATTERTON/PAQUETTE
while observing, through the computer display, what he
would be seeing (mostly the few lights on the HMB-1),
at three angles through the bridge windows. The
simulator modeled Sea Shadow heading, speed and
seakeeping response to throttle setting, sea state and
wind conditions, and modeled moored HMB-1 pitch,
roll and yaw in the same conditions. Through this
simulator, Sea shadow launch and recovery operations
from the HMB-1 were practiced.

Figure 16. Sea Shadow; Bridge mockup

Figure 17. Sea Shadow; Bridge during construction

Hughes Mining Barge (HMB-1)
The HMB-1, shown in Figures 18 and 19, is a 324 foot
long, 107 foot beam, 5800 ton displacement floating
drydock constructed in the early 1970's as a fully
submergible system. During late 1982 and early 1983,
the HMB-1 was reactivated and modified to support
the construction and testing of the Sea Shadow. The
roof and a 15 ton overhead bridge crane were
reinstalled, catwalks were added and the assembly tool
was fabricated on the well deck of the barge to support
modular construction. Near the end of construction,

Naval Engineers Journal, May 1994

14

SEA SHADOW

CHATTERTON/PAQUETTE

Figure 18. Sea Shadow Moored Inside the HMB 1

the steel wall at the aft end of the barge was replaced
with a vertically opening "megadoor". The 76 foot
wide, 72 foot high steel reinforced fabric door is
normally closed except during ship deployments . The
roof, consisting of 6 moveable and two fixed aluminum
telescoping sections, provides a large clear vertical
opening into the barge. The roof sections were
retracted as required for module and equipment
loading.
During Sea Shadow dock trials, an inclining
experiment was performed. Because of the narrow
main deck, a longitudinal inclining was performed
instead of the traditional transverse inclining. Dock
trials and the inclining were conducted in the Redwood
City area by flooding down the HMB-1 and checking
the ship systems. The current HMB-1 / Sea Shadow
configuration allows all ship systems to be operated
and tested in the "dry".

Following construction completion, the HMB-1 served

as the field test support platform and covered drydock
for the Sea Shadow. The barge provides shore power,

Figure 19. HMB-1, Hughes Mining Barge

hydraulics system flushing, replenishment fuel, spares
storage, and staging of logistics and personnel. Normal
operation is to tow the HMB-1 to a test site, moor or
Naval Engineers Journal, May 1994

15

SEA SHADOW

CHATTERTON/PAQUETTE

dock the barge, ballast the barge down from it's

nominal 8 foot draft to 42 foot to float the Sea Shadow,
raise the megadoor, release the mooring lines, and back
out the ship under its own power. The HMB-1 has
proven to be a valuable construction and test support
asset. While it continues to house the Sea Shadow, the
ship can operate from a conventional pier.
OPERATIONS
Following completion of construction in the mid-80's,
the Sea Shadow was taken to Santa Cruz Island for
testing. Due to security requirements, all tests were
conducted on a closed range at night. Excellent
maneuvering capabilities and many other aspects of the
success of the design were confirmed. Elements of the
program have been applied to other craft including the
T-AGOS 19 and DDG-51.
After the Sea Shadow's recent reactivation, additional
tests were conducted in April, August, October and
November of 1993. These tests were performed during
day and night and included extended, open ocean
periods. The variations in time of year and time of day
at locations throughout the Channel Islands and Point
Conception area provided analysts with data for a wide
range of environmental conditions.
During the open ocean tests the Sea Shadow conducted
operations in conditions up to a fully developed Sea
State 5; the original design requirement for survival.
The craft was fully instrumented and operated during a
series of Sea State 3-4 test exercises previous to sea
state 5 exposure. Maximum stresses seen at sea state 5,
in the most highly stressed areas of the ship, were low
and correlated to the levels predicted by the finite
element model.
During the at-sea tests, an
instrumentation system very similar to that utilized on
the T-AGOS 19 tests was installed. This system
measured and recorded data from approximately 50
strain gauges, along with ship motions and relative
wave height data. A buoy was also deployed in the
area to determine the characteristics of the sea state.
Comparative performance data was collected on the
Sea Shadow, a destroyer, a frigate and a USCG cutter
during the tests.
Sea Shadow performed as expected based on results of
computer predictions and model tests both in
seakeeping and in its structural strength.

Shadow, especially when compared to the fatigue of

the personnel on the USCG cutter.
The high caliber of technologists, analysts, test
conductors, operators and support personnel teamed for
the recent Sea Shadow Program tests represented a
wide range of Navy Lab, ARPA, and industry
organizations. The test database is extensive, of very
high quality, and covers all ship systems, seakeeping
and structural performance, and signature aspects for a
reduced observable SWATH ship.
During testing, the Sea Shadow has achieved its design
goal of providing a robust platform capable of
demonstrating fully many advanced technologies. That
the craft was designed and built in only 27 months, and
performed so well, is a credit to the many men and
women, at all levels, from Government and Industry
who had the vision, capability, and dedication for this
effort.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors are most grateful to the US Navy and to
Lockheed Missiles & Space, Company Inc. for
permission to present this paper.
The giant leap of faith demonstrated by the Sea
Shadow would not have been possible without the
vision of pioneers and promoters of the value of
advanced technology to US fighting forces such as
Secretary William Perry, VADM (Ret) Reynolds, and
the late ADM A. J. Whittle III. There have been many
who have contributed to the successes of this project
over the years and, although they can not all be
attributed, we hope that this first discussion will
provide some recognition of the challenges met.

[1]
[2]
[3]

References
Gupta, S. K. and T. W, Schmidt, "Developments
in Swath Technology," Naval Engineers Journal,
May 1986
Gore, Jerry L., "Swath Ships," Naval Engineers
Journal, Special Edition, February 1985
Covich, Philip "T-AGOS 19: An Innovative
Program for an Innovative Design," Naval
Engineers Journal, May 1987

During one open ocean operation, the Sea Shadow

remained at sea for 73 hours and traveled 519 nautical
miles in the process of finding and operating in the
highest sea states available. The 24 personnel on
board included ship's crew, scientists and test
personnel. This crew of 24 shared 12 bunks and one
head with two WC and one shower. Test crew
personnel (coed), though working long hours,
experienced little motion induced fatigue on the Sea
Naval Engineers Journal, May 1994

16