Posted on 05/06/2008 11:49:47 AM PDT by JZelle
Eight ships that were supposed to be the government's latest, best weapon for stopping terrorists, illegal immigrants and smugglers now float unused in a U.S. Coast Guard shipyard in Baltimore, the symbol of a nearly $100 million taxpayer debacle.
Instead of patrolling, the ships were deemed unfit for the high seas after just a couple of months of use and eventually will be dismantled without ever fulfilling their promise.
The Coast Guard hopes to finally put the problems with its much maligned "Deepwater" program behind it, taking ownership this month of a brand new 418-foot national security cutter that was built from scratch after contractors bungled the modernization of the earlier eight ships.
Commissioning of the USCGC Bertholf will be the next major step in a 25-year, $24 billion project to extend the Coast Guard's reach further than ever before beyond U.S. shores. Taxpayers, however, won't see much benefit until the Bertholf is tested and cleared for duty over the next couple of years.
Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS), the contracting group that is finishing testing of the $641 million Bertholf, insists the ship is performing well in sea trials and should be free of the problems that doomed the earlier vessels.
Inspectors found fewer problems with the Bertholf than is typical with a first-of-class ship, according to ICGS, which is made up of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp.
Spokeswoman Megan Mitchell noted that the new cutter has a totally different design from the eight 123-foot cutters that developed cracks after their upgrades and are now tied up at the Coast Guard's Baltimore yard waiting to be dismantled.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Okey dokey, lets just send out invitations to all terrorists that the US is free game. Not that they didn’t already know it, but it’s now even more wide open.
We still have the old Macinaw in layup.
I seem to remember that those 110 foot cutters were a disaster from the start in the mid fifties. I think that they were originally designed to be a little longer but someone decided to chop a few feet off. The result was problems all over including engine cooling. Anyone know anything more about that?
Does anyone have a picture of the new 418s?
Don’t know about the 110’s but they cut about 33 feet off the stern of the 378’s which is why they throw such awesome rooster tails -that’s power wasted because the screws are to close to the stern to guide the water back.
nope, but its white with a red and blue stripe.
I would like to know what company built these vessels.
I can’t find information on it.
U.S. Coast Guard cutters sit unused at the shipyard in Baltimore after the costly Deepwater project encountered problems with extensions and cracked hulls. Commandant Adm. Thad Allen said problems were too numerous to repair when the vessels were decommissioned in 2006. (Katie Falkenberg/The Washington Times)
That's alot of expensive junk.
Looks similar to the old 378s
Oops. Located it on the next page..........
The Island Class was a light weight steel hull originally designed for cheap construction in Third World.
Light weight steel means thin means corrision and cracks.
Aluminum would have more durable. The engines were too big for slow patroling and way too expensive to operate. The Cat engines were cheaper to operate.
Hmmm....wonder if I could buy one through DRMO and run it around on Fort Loudon lake?
Must have been some thin steel, was the superstructure steel too? 378’s had aluminimum superstructure/steel hull. I was on Mallow which at 40 years old and in warm water Hawaii had lost a lot of her hull to corrosion.
Does anyone have a picture of the new 418s?
Looks similar to the old 378s
They lool kike FFG’s
Clutched in at 10 knots IIRC. Makes it fun to moor up.
Mallow was on ebay a few years ago.
I have always thought that the CG cutters were some of the best looking ships on the sea, going all the way back into the 19th century.
The 418s look good.
Make one hell of a party boat.
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