The Sea Shadow is one of the most famous SWATH ships – a black, futuristic looking vessel which was the basis for the stealth ship in the Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies. Like our seastead designs, SWATH ships have high stability due to a low waterplane area, and a similar shape to the Sea Shadow is under consideration as a possibility for single-family seastead designs (our next engineering effort). The design has even been used for a cruise ship, as we mention in the book.
As the WSJ reports, the Navy has been trying to give the vessel away since 2006. Of course, when it comes to the government, even free costs:
> But a gift ship from the Navy comes with lots of strings attached to the rigging. A naval museum, the Historic Naval Ships Association warns, is “a bloodthirsty, paperwork ridden, permit-infested, money-sucking hole…” Because the Navy won’t pay for anything — neither rust scraping nor curating — to keep museums afloat, survival depends on big crowds. That’s why many of the 48 ships it has given away over 60 years were vessels known for performing heroically in famous battles.
It would be fun to take a tour if someone else footed the bill, but I don’t think the layout of the Sea Shadow is quite what we’re looking for – Wikipedia reports that it “has only 12 bunks aboard, one small microwave oven, a refrigerator and table.” It takes a bit more than that to homestead the high seas…
