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:

• 2 CG/DDG
• 1 FFG
• 1 Amphib
• 1 Hospital Ship

In 2017, PCs and JHSVs replace the cruisers, destroyers, and frigates. The force is expected to include fourteen vessels:

• 10 PC
• 1  Amphib
• 2 JHSV (Joint High Speed Vessels)
• 1 Hospital Ship

By 2020 two LCS replace the amphib. The composition is expected to include fifteen vessels:

• 10 PC
• 2 LCS
• 2 JHSV (Joint High Speed Vessels)
• 1 Hospital Ship

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)).

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.

(More here and here)

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.

Navaltoday.com is reporting, “Northrop Grumman Corporation has completed core capability development of the Nationwide Automatic Identification System (AIS) and delivered it to the U.S. Coast Guard to begin formal government testing prior to deployment.”

This system is likely to have a major impact on the way the Coast Guard does several of its missions including SAR and MEP in addition to Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security. Read the full report here.