USCG: Problems with New Cutter Being Fixed
The U.S. Coast Guard's new national security cutter, the Bertholf, is steadily whittling down its number of outstanding technical problems now that its crew has moved aboard and the ship is taking regular trips to sea, senior Coast Guard officials said May 27.
Rear Adm. Gary Blore, the service's head of acquisitions, said in a conference call with reporters that the presence of the crew onboard had enabled Coast Guardsman and shipyard engineers to resolve five of the eight systems "starred" in an April report by the Navy Board of Inspection and Survey. By the time the cutter sails from its Gulf Coast shipyard in mid-June, Blore expected all eight problems to be resolved.
"I cannot tell you how valuable it has been to have the 122 men and women aboard - it's like a whole different world," Blore said. "They can work fast through issues, they're all doing it all at the same time ... it's a phenomenal force multiplier to have the crew on board. It's made a huge difference."
A Navy inspection identified 2,816 points, noted as "trial cards," plus the eight "starred" systems, that were incomplete or needed work aboard the 418-foot, $641 million Bertholf. Those points were carried over May 8 when the Coast Guard signed the paperwork to accept the ship in a "special commission" status, prompting a few members of Congress to criticize the Coast Guard for taking ownership of what critics fear is at best an unfinished ship, and at worst a lemon.
Still, officials said May 27 the cutter has used its first-of-its-kind stern ramp about 60 times to launch the new small boats it carries - the Long Range Interceptor and the Short-Range Prosecutor - and that its flight deck is ready to accept the first landings by Coast Guard helicopters.
Top Coast Guardsmen also said they were confident that work was progressing on the Bertholf's command and communications gear, known by the acronym C4ISR, which had generated about 650 trial cards in its first inspection in June 2007. By the time of the most recent inspection, when a team from the Navy's Space and Warfare Command came aboard in April, there were 122 remaining C4ISR trial cards, officials said.
The ship is to undergo its next major C4ISR inspection in the middle of August, Blore said, when it arrives in its new homeport of Alameda, Calif. In the meantime, the Bertholf is scheduled to sail up the East Coast this summer and dock in Baltimore, where senior Coast Guard officials and congressional overseers will tour the ship.
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