Hey, those cables are the shore power cables I was asking about in the NEC forum a few days ago; they're still very much in use! We use those cables for temporary power connections in shore facilities, too.
Due to increasing reliant on COTS gear, 400Hz equipment on ships is getting rarer and rarer. There is still quite a bit of 400Hz gear, though, but most of it now is simple economics: rather than develop 1 component for aircraft and another for ships, it's easier to provide 400Hz power on the ship and keep commonality.
Navy is migrating from MG sets to solid state frequency converters onboard ships, but I'm not aware of any plans to rip out the old MG sets quite yet- there are cost savings in reduced maintenance for new installs, but not enough to warrant outright replacement. Savings in space, weight and moment are also important, and a place where the solid-state units shine. There is one bonus to the old MG sets- they act as rotary UPS, too, and can ride out short power hits.
[This message has been edited by SteveFehr (edited 03-03-2007).]
