Thomas Schoene wrote:
But Belknap *was* the impetus for the reduction of aluminum in USN ships.
The problem was that the next class of ships built (the Ticonderoga-class
cruiser) was required to be based on the Spruance hull, which could not
carry the necessary payload with a steel superstructure. Thus, the Ticos
still had aluminum.

The Burkes, the next clean-sheet design for the USN, are almost all steel.

And now the speedboat requirements for the LCS have them going back again.

http://www.epicos.com/News/NewsItem.asp?IdArticle=11933
The Lockheed Martin team design employs a steel and aluminum structure
which is optimized to reduce construction cost, weight, and pitching
moment. Top speeds approach 60 knots depending on the ship's
configuration.

-HJC