U.S. assault ship capable of speeds over 40 knots taken out to sea for final trials cost $740million

The U.S. navy's stunning new assault ship has been taken out to sea for its final test trials.

The USS Independence (LCS 2) is a small transport vessel designed to undertake multiple missions, which due to its trimaran design can reach speeds of more than 40 knots (46mph).

The 419-foot vessel was built at the Austal shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, has a range of 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km) and can also operate in water less than 20 feet deep.



The Independence's mission bay is 15,2000 square feet and takes up most of the lower deck.

It can support the operation of two Seahawk helicopters, multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or one CH-53 Sea Stallion-class helicopter.In addition to cargo, the bay can also carry four lanes of multiple Stryker combat vehicles, armoured Humvees, plus their associated troops.


Rapid: The USS Independence (LCS 2) is capable of speeds of more than 40 knots.Impressive: The Independence was built at the Austal shipyard in Mobile, Alabama




Multi-purpose: The 419-foot vessel can support the opeartion of two Seahawk helicopters, multiple UAVs, or one CH-53 Sea Stallion-class helicopter.

Buoyancy bazooka lifejacket that inflates when it hits water and could save hundreds of lives wins £10,000 Dyson prize

A buoyancy bazooka which could save thousands of lives in the UK has won this year’s James Dyson Award.

Longreach shoots an emergency buoyancy aid 500 feet out to sea. It is made from hydrophobic foam which rapidly expands upon hitting the water.

It is equipped with flares for night-time illumination and allows the victim to remain buoyant for a longer period of time.

The winner Australian Samuel Adeloju was chosen from a final international shortlist of 15 by inventor James Dyson.

The Longreach design by Samuel Adeloju, 24, has won the James Dyson Award

Australian Samuel Adeloju with his prize-winning invention

Monster of the deep: Shocked oil workers catch TWO-AND-A-HALF-FOOT 'woodlouse'

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From head to toe, I'm two and a half feet long (30 inches). This giant isopod was found clinging to a submarine being used by oil contractors

The unexpected visitor hitched a ride on a submarine sent from a rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The creature is a cousin of the humble woodlouse (above) who measures a mere 0.6 of an inch.What you lookin' at? The bathynomus giganteus, seen head on

The creature is a cousin of the humble woodlouse (above) who measures a mere 0.6 of an inch

This deep sea creepy-crawly gave oil workers a fright, after the unexpected visitor hitched a ride on a submarine sent from a rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

The beast normally lives 8,500ft under water and this specimen is thought to be the largest giant isopod ever found at this depth.

Questions were raised over its authenticity because of the release date of pictures - April Fool's Day. However experts have been quick to verify the find.
I've seen the pictures, and they are real, and they really do get that big,’ said Craig McClain, assistant director of science for the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in North Carolina. 'It's definitely not an April Fool's joke.

'It's an isopod,' McClain explained. 'It's like the rolypolys or pillbugs that you find in your garden. It's the same group of animals.

'They're really common in the deep water in the Gulf of Mexico,' he added.

Called the Bathynomus Giganteus, it is a super-sized cousin of the humble woodlouse.

The one in this picture purports to be 2.5ft long - an astonishing figure considering the average specimen if half that length.

Its legs are arranged in seven pairs, and its front two are able to manipulate and bring food to its four sets of jaws. It is a scavenger that feeds on dead whales, fish and shrimp.
The species is abundant in the cold, deep waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and is a good example of deep-sea gigantism.

Many deep-sea crustaceans and invertebrates tend to be larger than their shallow-water counterparts.

It is not yet known whether this is due to the colder temperature, higher pressure or scarcer food resources.

‘I've seen the pictures, and they are real, and they really do get that big,’ said Craig McClain, assistant director of science for the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in North Carolina. 'It's definitely not an April Fool's joke.

'It's an isopod,' McClain said. 'It's like the rolypolys or pillbugs that you find in your garden. It's the same group of animals.

'They're really common in the deep water in the Gulf of Mexico,' he added.