Littoral combat ship Little Rock (LCS 9) is underway during a high-speed run in Lake Michigan during acceptance trials. Lockheed Martin Photo

For the last several years, it has seemed that the Navy had all but abandoned the drug interdiction effort, and actual US Navy ships in the Fourth Fleet Area of Operations (Latin America) were very rare. That seems to be changing.

USS Detroit (LCS-7) deployed on Oct. 31, 2019 and returned to Mayport for a crew swap on Feb. 2, 2020. She had operated with a U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment and an aviation detachment including a MH-60S Seahawk helicopter and two MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Takeoff Unmanned Vehicles. She is expected to redeploy to Fourth Fleet after the crew swap and a short maintenance period.

USS Little Rock (LCS-9) departed Mayport, FL, on Feb. 6, for operations with Fourth Fleet. Sounds like Little Rock, unlike Detroit, may try to do a crew swap away from homeport.

“Little Rock will also demonstrate its operational capabilities and allow the Navy to evaluate crew rotation and maintenance plans. While in the Caribbean, Central and South American regions, the ship will rotate deployments of two crews, Blue and Gold, who will rotate aboard every four to five months, maintaining consistency and allowing a continuous presence in the region.”

As a side note, the USS Little Rock is equipped with Laser weapon. Military and naval officers from friendly nations ought to find that interesting.

SOUTHCOM Commander Adm. Craig Faller is hoping to do more than just drug enforcement. He hopes to counter Chinese and Russian influence in Latin America. He also plans to exercise small scale Marine operations with these ships, in cooperation with the militaries of friendly nations.

There are some other interesting developments.

“…SOUTHCOM is in line for an Expeditionary Staging Base, the converted commercial tanker design that acts as a lily pad for mine-counter measures and special operations forces in U.S. Central Command. The command also is currently operating a Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF), which it is also using for presence, partner-building and counter-trafficking work. SOUTHCOM also claimed successes with the deployment of the Military Sealift Command ship M/V Kellie Chouest. The support ship deployed with a military detachment aboard and an unmanned aerial vehicle to provide additional capacity, to supplement the Coast Guard’s National Security Cutters for the interdiction mission….SOUTHCOM is pitching a plan to turn a Spearhead EPF into an LCS tender to keep the ships on station longer rather than going back to shore regularly for maintenance.”

Technical drawing of the Mizuho-class patrol vessel (Credit : Japan Coast Guard)

Naval News reports the delivery of a second new very large cutter to the Japan Coast Guard.

We talked about these ships earlier. “Japan builds more XXLarge CG Cutters.” The odd thing about these ships is that they are essentially repeats of the Shikishima-class (first ship, Shikishima (PLH-31) commissioned 1992, second ship, Akitsushima  (PLH-32) commissioned 2013). The Shikishima class were in turn near repeats of the Mizuho class (first ship, Mizuho, now renamed Fusō (PLH-21), commissioned 1986, second, Yashima (PLH-22) commissioned 1988). The Reimei patrol vessel (PLH-33), referred to in the report is apparently the third member of the Shikishima class and was launched in March 2019. The two new ships are a new Mizuho (PLH-41) and Shunkō (PLH-42). Looks like they may have seven of these very large cutter, unless the new ships replace PLH-21 and 22. That is a good possibility as the Japanese replace their cutters much more rapidly than the USCG. When I last checked, they had not cutters more than 35 years old. 

Don’t let the reported displacement of 6,000 tons or 6,500 tons fool you. Asians tend to report light or empty displacement. Full load displacement is 9,300 tons, more than twice as large as the Bertholf class National Security Cutters.

There is some reported differences between the classes. The original Mizuhos were reported to be 130 meters in length, the Shikishimas, 150 meters, the new Mizuhos 140 meters. There are also differences in how they are armed. The newest ships introduce the BAE Bofors 40mm/70 Mk4.

The most interesting paragraph in the report was in regard to the rapid growth of the Japan Coast Guard.

In 2012, the JCG had 51 patrol vessels displacing more than 1,000 tons. The service has now 63 large vessels, and the goal is to operate 12 more ships by the end of FY 2023 to deal with new threats.

By comparison, the US Coast Guard, which patrols an EEZ more than two and a half times as large has only 39 patrol cutters larger than 1,000 tons and we plan to have only 36 (11 NSCs and 25 OPCs).

Coastal-steamer-sized, retractable Wavefoil installation. Credit Wavefoil

Marine Link reports on an innovation that promises a better ride, fuel savings, and lower emissions.

If it works nearly as well as reported, its worth a look.

Launch of USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB-30) on April 2, 2005. Photo by Peter J. Markham.

US Senators from Great Lakes states are again pushing for second icebreaker on the Great Lakes at least as capable as USCGC Mackinaw. A letter jointly signed by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Gary Peters (D-MI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Rob Portman (R-OH) Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tina Smith (D-MN), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Todd Young (R-IN) has been mailed to the Commandant and the acting Secretary of Department of Homeland Security.

Full text of the letter can be found below:

Dear Director Mulvaney, Acting Secretary Wolf, and Admiral Schultz;

As the Administration works to finalize its FY 2021 budget request to Congress, we urge you to include adequate funding to support the Coast Guard’s acquisition of a Great Lakes icebreaker.

Icebreaking capacity supports the movement through the Great Lakes of more than 90 million tons of cargo annually. According to a study commissioned by the Lake Carriers’ Association, businesses that depend upon the Great Lakes maritime industry lost over $1 billion in revenues because of delays caused by inadequate icebreaking during the 2018-2019 ice-season.  Vessel delays also resulted in the loss of 5,421 jobs dependent upon the efficient delivery of cargo throughout the Great Lakes Region.

The Coast Guard is required by law to maintain a heavy icebreaking capability on the Great Lakes to keep our region’s ports and harbors open and facilitate our nation’s free flow of commerce. However, the current maintenance condition of the existing icebreaking fleet has resulted in 182 lost operating days last winter primarily due to engine failures. To this end, Congress has authorized the Coast Guard to acquire a new Great Lakes icebreaker at least as capable as the heavy icebreaker the MACKINAW (WLBB-30), and has directed and provided funding for the Coast Guard to establish a major program acquisition office to support the design and procurement of a vessel.

We respectfully request adequate funding for the acquisition of a Great Lakes icebreaker in your FY 2021 budget request.  Thank you, in advance, for your consideration of our views.

Their concern is easy to understand. There is no redundancy for the USCGC Mackinaw. If she has a catastrophic failure, it could be disastrous for the economics of the Lakes area. Even with her, shortfalls in capability have cost area a great deal.

We have discussed this before.

• Case for a Second Great Lakes Icebreaker
• “Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Shipping: We need Icebreakers” –MarineLink
• Michigan Senators Push for Another Great Lakes Icebreaker
• New Icebreaker–For the Great Lakes?
• Does Atlantic Fleet Need an Icebreaker Capability?

The Lake Carriers’ Association claims economic loses cost the Federal Government enough in taxes to pay for a new icebreaker in as little as two years.

Thanks to Fred for bringing this to my attention. 

47-Foot Motor Life Boat (MLB) 47231 from Station Morrow Bay, 4 Dec 2007. Photo by Mike Baird

Marine Log reports that,

Birdon America, Inc. has named All American Marine, Inc. (AAM), Bellingham, Wash., as the West Coast shipyard for Phase I of the U.S. Coast Guard 47-foot motor lifeboat (MLB) Service Life Extension Program (SLEP).

Last August, Birdon America was awarded the prime contract to perform SLEO work on 107 of the 117 MLBs in the USCG fleet.

Regarding the scope of work.

Birdon America developed and proposed a solution to meet the Coast Guard’s SLEP requirements and included system replacements, performance enhancements in the areas of noise, seating, and reliability and addressed structural issues.

The main work will be on systems experiencing technical obsolescence: the main propulsion, electrical, steering, towing and navigation systems, as well as replacement of areas of the hull and structure that have demonstrated high failure rates. Additionally, efforts to enhance human system integration will be made where practical to do so.

French “POM” Offshore Patrol Vessel. Credit: Socarenam

Naval News reports that the French Navy has ordered six Offshore Patrol Vessels (Patrouilleur d’Outre-Mer – POM). with the intention of basing two each in New Caledonia (Nouméa) and French Polynesia (Papeete) in the Western Pacific and la Réunion (Port-des-Galets) in the Indian Ocean. 

The POM will have an endurance of 30 days without refueling. Each ship will accommodate a crew of 30 sailors and 23 passengers and operate an unmanned aerial vehicle. Their armament will include a 20mm caliber remote-controlled turret (Narwhal by Nexter), as well as 12.7 mm and 7.62mm machine guns. The POM vessel will be 80 meters (262.4′) long and 11.8 meters (38.7′) wide, with a draft of 3.5 meters (11.5′).  (I provided the conversion to feet–Chuck)

These ships will replace 180 foot long P400-class patrol boats.

We talked about these ships and also discussed the French Navy’s coast guard type missions and other French OPV projects here. Incidentally all the previous reporting indicated that these would be 70 meters (230′) in length. These really do not look like 80 meter ships. I would prefer a flight deck and hangar suitable for a medium sized helicopter like on L’Adroit, but in any case, it is bigger and, at 22 knots, faster than a 210 with a crew less than half as large.

These ships certainly could be considered as candidates for “cutter X,” taking the crew and equipment of the Webber class cutters and putting them in a larger, more seaworthy hull. Looking at these new CGI images, they look like a supersized Webber class, with the gun on the main foc’sle just forward of the super structure and four crew served .50 calibers sited almost exactly as they are on the Webber class; a very similar 360 degree view pilot house mounted well back where it will experience less vertical acceleration; and a boat launch ramp notched in the stern. Taking advantage of the larger hull it also incorporates a davit launched RHIB starboard, space for a 20 foot containerized mission module, a flight deck and hangar for a 700-kilogram-class rotor-blade drone more berthing, and a holding area for up to six prisoners.

A CGI of the French Navy’s future POM OPVs (Credit : Socarenam)

It is now extremely unlikely the OPCs will be obtained at the low price initially bid by Eastern. They are now seen to be as large as the Bertholf class National Security Cutters. Perhaps if we look ahead to the time when Polar Security Cutter funding will have been completed, we should think about building a true “bridge” between the over 4,000 ton NSCs and OPCs and the under 400 ton Webber class. We might choose to continue building one OPC a year and build three Cutter X for about the same price as a second OPC. We could replace the WMECs that much quicker and perhaps build to a total of over 50 truly ocean going cutters. (11 NSCs, 14 OPC, and 30 Cutter X for about the same price as 11 NSCs, and 25 OPCs)