May 20, 2007:
The U.S. Navy has built a 210 foot
long ship simulator (Battle Stations 21), that uses realistic interiors, as
well as Hollywood-class special effects, to simulate various types of
emergencies sailors might encounter onboard real ships. The simulator provides
the sights, sounds, temperatures and smells one wound encounter aboard a U.S.
warship at sea. Constructed inside a 157,000 square foot building, the
simulator is at the navy basic training center (Great Lakes Naval Station), and
every recruit has to successfully carry out tasks in the simulator before they
can graduate. About one percent of recruits fail, often after several attempts.
Battle Stations 21 cost $83 million to build, and can handle over 300 recruits
at once.