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www.sname.org/sname/mt April 2013 exceptionally good. CPIC was operated as a South Korean naval asset for approximately ten years and then returned. e remaining R&D program was cancelled in the late 1970s so that resources could be reprogrammed. Little development took place in the 1980s outside of require- ments for the special warfare community. In spring 1989, simple but challenging requirements were brought to our attention for comment about fea- sibility. e rst requirement was to design and build a boat that could average 50 knots in a sea state 4 for 3,000 nautical miles (NM) without refueling. Second, the ves- sel must have no excessive accelerations or noise levels in manned spaces. Using public domain data, require- ments were con rmed to be feasible. Within 12 months, the vessel, later named Destriero , had been designed and tested at David Taylor Model Basin (DTMB) in sea states 3, 4, and 5. A construction contract was executed in May 1990; following acceptance trials, Destriero was delivered in 13 months later, in June 1991. In August 1992, this 67.7 m vessel made a record-set- ting crossing of the Atlantic Ocean non-stop from New York to England in 58 hours, 34 minutes, averaging 53.1 knots. During the last 24 hours in low SS-4 seas, Destriero transited 1,402 NM averaging 58.4 knots. Privately-funded Destriero established benchmarks for many technologies of high-performance vessels: ? high-speed seakeeping ? propulsive e ciency with waterjets ? transport e ciency ? dynamic stability at high speeds ? onboard acoustics ? marine aerodynamics ? high-speed navigation ? minimum manning ? production e ciency. us, with regard to the timeline of development of technology for advanced surface craft, twenty years ago Destriero demonstrated maritime advances that were possible when resources were made available. Destriero s performance had a marked in uence initially on larger European monohull ferries and on Kuwait patrol vessels, and much later in uenced the design of LCS-1. Both the size and e ciency of waterjets continue to be developed commercially from this period, especially for vessel speed greater than 25 knots, where waterjets are competitive with the e ciency of propellers. In addition, waterjets tend to be superior to propellers with regard to low vibration and as a hydro-acoustic noise source. e combination of a propulsion drive train consisting of a gas turbine powering a waterjet is attractive, as both are uid machines; both have characteristics of HP/(RPM) 3 = constant. us, as the load of a vessel changes, a waterjet essentially absorbs the same power at the same rpm no matter how the vessel speed changes with displacement. e state of technology continued to advance with commercial and private funding, which was again vali- dated by the 41.5 m gas turbine motoryacht Fortuna at delivery in 2000. For this length, Fortuna is without any known equal with regard to speed. e primary new tech- nologies necessary to attain the required speed for this project were in three areas. First, the waterjet supplier necessarily conducted extensive cavitation tests of ush inlet geometries to achieve an essentially cavitation-free design of the inlet lip up to 70+ knots. Second, a di er- ent type of cavitation-free seawater inlet design, which had virtually no external drag-producing component, was developed and tested to 70+ knots with validated charac- teristics. Also, an exacting steering system was developed for high speeds for making small course corrections from autopilot input without movement of waterjet steering nozzles. is steering capability was made by transverse movement of interceptors mounted vertically on the blunt base of xed course-keeping ns. Modern pod drives were introduced about ten years ago. e concept of a right-angle drive system through the hulls bottom was available on a limited commercial basis around 1970, but due to its expense had limited acceptance. Modern pod drives with counter-rotating propellers are very e cient and provide almost sports- car-like maneuverability. Products currently available o er increased hull interior volume for general arrange- ments, cargo, or military mission equipment. Most of these pod drives are limited to speeds below 45 knots due to available propeller sets. Hull materials and production techniques Designers and builders from very early times understood the signi cance that vessel weight had on performance. Wood has long been the primary choice for construction of marine vessels. However, composite? hull construction In the mid 1960s, a formal research and development program was undertaken in the U.S. to extend the technology base for performance boats and craft.