Tag Archives: Deepwater scandal

Three month old Cutter has Golf Ball sized holes and rust in hull already

The newest $500-million dollar 418-foot frigate sized National Security Cutter, USCGC Stratton, seems to have some rust and holes in the hull.  The ship was commissioned in March.

Capt. Charles Cashin, who commands the Coast Guard’s newest national security cutter, the Stratton, said he called in engineers last month when his crew discovered a trio of “pinholes” and a fourth hole “slightly smaller than a golf ball” in the ship’s hull.

Cashin said the four holes, discovered in mid-April while the ship was working off the coast of Los Angeles, have been patched for now but the Stratton soon will head to a dry dock for permanent repairs.

Specs

Displacement:     4500 LT
Length:     418 ft (127 m)
Beam:     54 ft (16 m)
Height:     140 ft (43 m)
Draft:     22.5 ft (6.9 m)
Decks:     4
Propulsion:     Combined diesel and gas
Speed:     28+ knots
Range:     12,000 nm
Endurance:     60 days
Crew:     111 (15 Officers, 15 CPO, 81 Enlisted)
Sensors and
processing systems:     X and S band radar, 3D air search radar, AN/SPQ-9 radar
Electronic warfare
and decoys:     AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare System
2 SRBOC/ 2 NULKA countermeasures chaff/rapid decoy launcher
Armament:     57 mm gun and Gunfire Control System
Close-In Weapons System
4 50 Caliber Machine Guns
2 M240B 7.62mm Light Machine Guns
Aircraft carried:     (2) MCH, or (4) VUAV or (1) MCH and (2) VUAV