The Coast Guard yesterday accepted its first national security cutter, the USCGC Bertholf, the ship the agency is hoping will set its troubled $24 billion, 25-year Deepwater program on the right track.
The 418-foot Bertholf, designed to be the flagship of the Coast Guard’s fleet, is the latest and largest ship to be delivered by government contractors to the agency.
“My crew and I are excited to move aboard and begin readying this impressive cutter for sea,” said Capt. Patrick Stadt, the Bertholf’s newly-appointed commanding officer. “Bertholf will bring tremendous capabilities to the Coast Guard and we look forward to our role in achieving full operational deployment with the fleet.”
The Bertholf leads a new class of cutters, the first major multi-mission cutter to be built and delivered to the Coast Guard in more than 20 years. It is the highest profile ship to be completed since earlier debacles in the Deepwater program, which was hailed as a way to modernize the Coast Guard’s fleet of ships that work 50 miles or more offshore.
The program ran into troubles early when its contractors — Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS), a combination of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. — attached 13-foot ramps to the Coast Guard’s existing 110-foot cutters. The converted ships failed at sea and were taken out of service.
The 123-foot ships are now moored in Baltimore, waiting for the federal government and the Coast Guard to complete its investigation into the contractors. The Coast Guard says it is pursing the possibility of getting most or all of the nearly $100 million it spent so far on the program.
The U.S. Navy’s Board on Inspection and Survey, in sea trials of the Bertholf, found 2,800 issues on the ship — called “trial cards.” The group said that is a normal number of trial cards considering the size of the ship. Eight of those were major issues, and Rear Adm. Gary T. Blore, the Coast Guard’s chief acquisition officer, said yesterday they will be resolved by the end of the month.
“Our shipbuilding team faced a number of challenges in designing and building this first-of-class ship,” said Irwin F. Edenzon, vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. “We’ve worked through the issues and the Coast Guard is getting a great capability to meet their mission requirements.”
There are still issues with the Bertholf’s Telecommunications Electronics Material Protected from Emanating Spurious Transmissions Systems — its classified communications program called “Tempest.” The Coast Guard said the program wasn’t yet certified safe enough to carry classified information.
Adm. Blore said yesterday on a conference call with reporters that no classified information would be transmitted to or from the ship until that’s complete.
The Bertholf yesterday was placed in “Commission Special” status, which means it will undergo even more field tests for the next two years, according to the Coast Guard.
The crew of 122 started to move aboard yesterday and in about 10 days it will go to sea. Next month, it will embark on a journey up the East Coast, down to the Panama Canal and over to Alameda, Calif., where it will be based. On the way, it will conduct further tests, such as helicopter landings and safety drills in different weather conditions.
The crew of the Bertholf has been training for 20 months in preparation of its work on the Bertholf, Capt. Stadt said.
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