Honestly they're another great example of the military industrial complex making promises so they can make sales, and then failing to deliver on those promises. The entire point of these things was they they had a shallow draft so they could be in close to shore, since that's where most of the action was at in the early 2000s, and automation was supposed to mean they could have a small crew, while gas turbines were supposed to let them go fast, and other than the shallow draft, none of the promises have actually been kept as far as those ships were involved. My understanding is that they are kind of scary to be on in anything but the smoothest waters, and are unpleasant to live in, too.