The GAO has published a new report, GAO-12-741, “Legacy Vessels’ Declining Conditions Reinforce Need for More Realistic Operational Targets”. I’ve added a link to the report on the reference page.
Hopefully I’ll be able to review it soon and provide the highlights. After a cursory glance one surprising result is that the 210s seem to be holding up better than the 270s, in spite of there age. This may be a reflection of their simplicity–fewer things to go wrong.
The naval centric blog Informationdissemination has an interesting series of charts that purportedly show what the Navy thinks will be typical fleet distributions in the years 2013, 2017, and 2020.
It included a couple of surprises that might impact the Coast Guard.
Apparently there will be some significant changes in the forces assigned to SouthCom (Fourth Fleet). This could reasonably be expected to impact drug enforcement operations in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific and Law Enforcement Detachments assigned to SouthCom Navy assets.
From five ships in 2013, typically:
In 2017, PCs and JHSVs replace the cruisers, destroyers, and frigates. The force is expected to include fourteen vessels:
By 2020 two LCS replace the amphib. The composition is expected to include fifteen vessels:
The PCs are presumably Cyclone Class, because there are no new construction PCs planned for the Navy, but there is some question as to whether the Cyclone class will last until 2017 much less 2020.
The coding in the charts tell us the two JHSVs are expected to be permanently stationed in the area. (Could that mean Puerto Rico?) The other assets rotate in and out of the area. The JHSVs are fast. They have a helo deck. I haven’t seen any indication of their boat handling arrangement yet. They are basically high speed ferries, intended for intra-theater transportation. Their range is relatively limited.
The charts don’t indicate any shift in interest into the Arctic. Hard to tell if that omission is meaningful. Presumably some of the 15 ships on the West Coast (Third Fleet) could operate in the Arctic, but there is no change in the numbers on either coast in any of the three charts.
(Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the charts tell us nothing about the six WPCs currently assigned to Patrol Forces South West Asia (PATFORSWA)).
gCaptain is reporting China has awarded the Finnish firm Aker Arctic Technology Inc. a contract for design of an icebreaking research ship.
Dimensions are reportedly about 120 meters length overall, a maximum breadth of 22,3 m and draught of 8,5 m.
The Brits have come up with a device for launching and recovering a relatively large motor lifeboat over the beach. The boat in question is 18 ton, not much smaller than a 47 foot MLB.
Certainly the Coast Guard has a number of trailerable boats, but I don’t think I have ever seen anything like this.
CIMSEC is reporting that the wreck of the U-550 (one of the larger, type IX boats) has been located off Nantucket.
She was sunk, 16 April 1944, by Coast Guard manned destroyer escorts USS Joyce (DE-317) and USS Peterson (DE-152) and Navy manned USS Grandy (DE-764). All were members of Escort Division 22, the only Coast Guard Escort Division formed in WWII. Grandy was temporarily assigned to replaced Coast Guard manned USS Leopold (DE-319), which had been sunk by a homing torpedo with the loss of 171, a month earlier.
Wiki report of the incident here.
There has been an interesting development in ship building technology. The first manned vessel has been built using Carbon Nano Tubes. The very high strength to weight ratio means it is capable of greater range than conventional construction. The 17 meter (56 ft) boat has a 1500 nautical mile range.
gCaptain is reporting three crewmembers dead and two missing after an explosion and fire on a chemical tanker at a methanol loading dock in the port of Labuan, Malaysia. A lighting strike is believed to have been the cuase.
First report and more pictures here.
The Coast Guard’s fleet of patrol vessels is in trouble. It is wearing out faster than it can be replaced. This is not a recent development, and the problem will not be solved soon. But for the moment, let us engage in a bit of “willed suspension of disbelief” and consider where the Coast Guard is planning on going, by comparing the “Program of Record” with the fleet of the not so distant past, as reported in my 2000-2001 Combat Fleets of the World.
(You might want to look back at “Is the Fleet Shrinking” for a broader look at what the fleet whole fleet looked like in the past.)
The fleet of 2000/2001 looked like this (displacement in tons full load, comparing only the larger patrol vessels):
Class Displacement x Number = Total Displacement
378s 3050 tons x 12 = 36,600 tons
270s 1780 tons x 13 = 23,140 tons
210s 1050 tons x 16 = 16,800 tons
Alex Haley 2929 tons x 1 = 2,929 tons
Storis 1916 tons x 1 = 1,916 tons
Acushnet 1746 tons x 1 = 1,746 tons
110s 155 tons x 49 = 7,595 tons
Total 93 vessels, 90,726 tons
(Three 180 food WLBs that had been converted to WMECs were also decommissioned about this time.)
The Program of Record Fleet looks like this (I’m using what I believe will be a close approximation of the OPC’s displacement):
Class Displacement x Number = Total Displacement
NSC 4500 tons x 8 = 36,000 tons
OPC 2500 tons x 25 = 65,500 tons
FRC 353 tons x 58 = 20,474 tons
Total 91 vessels, 121,974 tons
The current fleet is ten vessels smaller than the 2000/2001 fleet. Three NSCs and I believe now two Webber Class FRCs have been added, but three WHEC 378s, Acushnet, Storis, two WMEC210, and at least eight 110s are no longer in service.
Things are going to get worse before they get better, but, as the Coast Guard has been saying, if it does get built, the program of record will be a significant improvement.
The Acquisitions Directorate has updated their web site and there is a lot of new information there. You might want to take a look. I have also added them to my list of recommended blogs for future reference.
If you want to find out what is new in your state, check out their delivery map.
I also found interesting the “International Acquisitions” page which talks about the ten fold growth of Coast Guard transfers of equipment to foreign services.
They have even updated the page about the OPC, and while they have not gone as far as I would have, they have begun to make a case for their procurement. It is a huge improvement over what was there before, but unfortunately the “fact sheet” on the project still contains very few specifics.
My complements to the CG-9 staff responsible and congratulations on CG-9’s five year anniversary.
I’ve added a new page listing recommended blogs. Hope you will find them useful. You can access just below the picture at the masthead.
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 