Sea Jet

The Advanced Electric Ship Demonstrator (AESD), Sea Jet, funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), is a 133-foot vessel located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division, Acoustic Research Detachment in Bayview, Idaho. Sea Jet was operated on Lake Pend Oreille, where it was used for test and demonstration of various technologies. Among the first technologies tested was an underwater discharge water jet from Rolls-Royce Naval Marine, Inc., called AWJ-21, a propulsion concept with the goals of providing increased propulsive efficiency, reduced acoustic signature, and improved maneuverability over previous Destroyer Class combatants.

The Sea Jet demonstrates a few technologies that will be integrated into the Zumwalt class destroyer. Notable among these is the return of the tumblehome hull design.



Pend Oreille Paddler
In March of 2007, an image surfaced of the mythical lake monster, the Pend Oreille Paddler. A cryptozoology website and blog, Cryptomundo, wrote an article on the new images of the Paddler, questioning whether the object in question was in fact the Paddler or a a cover story deployed by the U.S. Navy. In fact, the image is of the AESD Sea Jet crossing the lake.