Vessel with machinery modules outside watertight hull

A high speed naval combatant, comprising:

• a watertight hull having a stem bow and a tumble home configuration comprising a longitudinally extending hull bottom, port and starboard inward-sloped topsides, a longitudinally extending weather deck, and a substantially vertical aft end, said watertight hull separated longitudinally into a plurality of survivable watertight compartments, each of said compartments having at least one auxiliary machinery module mounted therein, said at least one auxiliary machinery module including heating means, air conditioning means, ventilation means, fire suppression means, and backup electric power means;
• a deckhouse structurally integral with said watertight hull, said deckhouse located above said weather deck at a substantially centrally located portion of said vessel, said deckhouse including a helicopter hanger;
• a composite material steeple attached to said deckhouse, said steeple containing rotating and stationary antennas in coaxial alignment therein, each of said antenna transmitting within a narrow frequency range, inside walls of said composite material steeple having radar-reflective materials thereon, said materials operative to reflect radar originating from without said vessel but allowing a narrow-band transmission from said antennas;
• and
• a plurality of pretested, prealigned propulsion modules mounted to an outer surface of said watertight hull, wherein said propulsion modules are installable after construction of said watertight hull and further wherein said propulsion modules are removable and replaceable without drydocking, said propulsion modules comprising:
• at least one steerable propulsor module attached to said aft end of said watertight hull, said at least one steerable propulsor module including:
• an outer housing secured to said aft end of said watertight hull and defining a vessel stern,
• a substantially vertical rotatable barrel mounted within said outer housing and containing steering means therein, said steering means including a geared electric motor and dynamically balanced, high-reduction-ratio dual orbital gears functioning to rotate said rotatable barrel relative to said outer housing,
• an axisymmetric pod having an open forward end and a pointed aft end, said pod having mounted therein a prealigned, pretested integrated machinery capsule, said integrated machinery capsule containing contrarotating propeller shafts that extend forward of said pod open forward end, shaft seals, thrust bearings, contrarotating propellers mounted on a forward end of said contrarotating propeller shafts, a liquid cooled alternating-current electric motor and a contrarotating reduction gear functioning to rotate said contrarotating propellers, and
• a streamlined strut rigidly connected at a top end to said rotatable barrel and rigidly connected at a bottom end to said pod, wherein said streamlined strut includes port and starboard ejection ports and a circulation control valve for preferentially ejecting water through said ejection ports to provide steering control by way of circulation control through the Coanda effect;
• and
• at least one power module mounted within said helicopter hanger, each power module including:
• an intercooled, recuperative engine including a gas turbine, an intercooler integral with said gas turbine, and a recuperator integral with said gas turbine,
• a ship-service generator powered by said engine and functioning to provide ship-service electric power to said naval combatant, and
• a propulsion generator having a first winding powered by said engine and operatively connected with said propulsor module to provide electric power to said propulsor module, and a second, coaxial high voltage winding capable of powering high energy weapon systems.