Well, at least the front hasn't fallen off. The LCS-2 had problems like aggressive galvanic corrosion between the aluminum hull and steel propulsion system due to inadaquate isolation. Any small boat owner could have told you that dissimilar metals and salt water are a bad mix unless you use sacrificial anodes and take measures to eliminate current flow. Yet the USN botched it.
I too have knowledge of these issues and they are devastating.
On top of dissimilar metal issues there are also different aluminum grades involved in the construction.
(meaning training+certs needed to work on these for most yards)
So on top of zero survivability in a hostile env they are not going to last 15 years.
Back when I was in, Ronnie wanted a 600 ship navy. Now we have <350 and that is counting these glorified ferrys.
I really thought your comment was going to be a reference to this sketch. “The front fell off” is...not something one expects to be a realistic scenario.
I padded it out with a bit more substance, but the first revision of my comment was just a reference to that sketch. Remembering the sketch reminded me of the LCS-2 hull issue.
After a bit of research I was a little confused. According to my research you can use sink as a sacrificial anode for Al depending on the exact alloy you are using.
Owners of aluminum boats make guests empty their pockets of loose change, because a penny in the bilge of an aluminum boat will punch a hole in the hull. I did make a mistake; has to be an old style copper penny for maximum galvanic corrosion.
It's a fairly lousy material for boats, though people use it anyway.
