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Engineering Mistake Ruins Fleet of Coast Guard Cutters

USCGC Matagorda (WPB-1303)

Introduction

The United States Coast Guard Cutter Matagorda (WPB-1303) was part of the 110-foot Island Class Patrol Boat Cutters. The vessel's design was based off highly accredited patrol boats from Great Britain. It replaced the older 95-foot Cape class cutter with these United State's island-named cutters. Matagorda was built by Bollinger Shipyard on April 24, 1986, so she was getting quite old. In 2004, as part of a program called Deepwater, the Coast Guard wanted to extend the life of the 110 foot Island-Class Cutters, stationed in Key West, Florida. The eight cutters being modified were the USCGC Matagorda (WPB-1303), USCGC Attu (WPB-1317), USCGC Metompkin (WPB-1325), USCGC Padre (WPB-1328), USCGC Manitou (WPB-1302), USCGC Monhegan (WPB-1305), USCGC Univac (WPB-1306) and the USCGC Vashon (WPB-1308). They were scheduled to go through a refit, which included adding 13 feet to the stern to make a high-speed launching ramp for a smaller patrol boat. This renovation was to also replace the original superstructure to accommodate mixed gender crews while also adding new electronics, berthing reconfigurations, galley upgrades, and communication equipment. With these new additions and extension, this vessel was transformed from an island-class ship to a blue-water vessel.

Sea Trials

In September of 2004, after all eight ships were introduced to the refurbishment plan and the first four had been delivered, sea trials were being taken place to determine how effective the 15-year life extension program was. During the sea trials, the lead ship Matagorda was forced to conduct a high speed transit to avoid Hurricane Ivan. At one point, she was running at approximately 24 knots in Sea State Five conditions, which involve eight to twelve foot seas. Upon arrival at her home port in Key West, Florida, the crew discovered buckling of the side and main deck on the starboard side near midship. Once spotted, the Coast Guard ordered inspections on the remainder of the fleet. Similar cracking problems subsequently occurred on the next three vessels coming off the water. Upon further assessments on the remaining ships, cracks were found in all eight ships and were getting worse. These cracks got so severe, pinhole breaches were found in the hulls. The shipyard wasted no time trying to repair and strengthen the hulls, but the converted cutters continued to crack at high speed in rough seas. Efforts to repair the Matagorda and the other vessels in the fleet were unsuccessful. The cutters were reported unseaworthy and were taken out of service.

Sea Trial Results

The refit added about 15 tons to the vessel's displacement, and reduced its maximum speed by approximately one knot. This added length and weight caused unexpected flexing, flexing the ships' decks and causing cracks. At least one cutter had warping so severe; its engines were no longer fully seated, while another ship's fuel tanks were deformed to the point of leakage. Another problem these cutters faced after their intended improvement was their steering. The steering system was mangled so badly, they had problems maintaining course, even at speeds fewer than ten knots. The propeller shaft design was flawed also, growing steadily misaligned with the engines once the cracking of the bulls began. The maritime waste disposal systems were also damaged to the point of being below specification. There was poor welding and sloppy workmanship throughout the ships that also aided to the failing of these vessel' hulls. The communications system was a complete fiasco too, barely functional and completely unsecure. All of the work done by Bollinger for the Deepwater System Program was done insufficiently and all contributed to the failing of these ships.

Legal Liability

In January 2008, the United States Coast Guard made an unusual move of demanding a partial refund of $96.1 million, but the request was withdrawn later in the year due to possible criminal charges that could be faced, enforced by the Department of Justice. In addition to the Coast Guard, the Justice department also sued Bollinger Shipyards for damages towards the Coast Guard Cutter Matagorda and seven other boats in that fleet. The Coast Guard paid hundreds of millions dollars towards Bollinger for this refit, and has tried to file for reimbursement 65 times once the Matagorda had displayed the six inch crack in its hull.

Conclusion

In late 2005, sea state restrictions were given to the cutters requiring better workmanship and quality for construction in the future. At the same time, these refits were halted with only eight out of the intended 49 cutters actually being worked on. On November 30, 2006, Admiral Thad Allen, Coast Guard Commandant, personally gave a direct order to immediately decommission all eight converted ships. The crews were dispersed to other cutters in the United States Coast Guard seventh District and the ships were towed to Baltimore, Maryland where they remain in a Reserve fleet as of October 2008. These eight ships encountered a total loss after being decommissioned in 2006. They will now have to be scrapped resulting in a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars and precious jobs.

The 110 foot patrol boats were proven to be an effective addition to the drug and immigration enforcement, search and rescue, and fishery law enforcement. As of right now, the Coast Guard is approaching a period of time where these remaining 110 foot cutters are aging and will either not be maintained adequately or will not be replaced by something newer. A Coast Guard committee found this situation unacceptable and wanted immediate action to avoid any loss in the Coast Guard's operation or in our nation's maritime security. Thankfully, the Coast Guard ended this Deepwater Conversion plan early enough to save upwards of $80,000,000 originally planned to be spent altering these vessels. While the Coast Guard has sped up the development associated with the Fast Response Cutters, Sentinel class cutter, and the conversion program idles, there appears to be a large gap emerging due to the absence of patrol boats. The fact that six 110 foot Cutters are absent due to supporting the Global War on Terror is further complicating things. Having no expected date of return does not help either.