A Navy inspection team that reviewed recent ship trials for the Coast Guard’s second Legend-class National Security Cutter, Waesche has recommended that the Coast Guard accept the vessel.
The recommendation by the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey paves the way for the Coast Guard to take delivery of Waesche as planned on Nov. 6. Waesche successfully completed the acceptance trials earlier this month (Defense Daily, Oct. 7).
Following the trials there were 2,166 open trial cards, which are basically punch list items that need to be corrected or waived before delivery. That number is about half the 4,030 open cards Bertholf, which is the first NSC, had at the completion of its acceptance trials, a Coast Guard spokeswoman told Defense Daily yesterday. More than half of the trial cards were identified by the Coast Guard prior to the trials.
Another sign of the improved learning curve in the production from the first NSC to the second is that the INSURV only created three starred cards for Waesche versus eight for Bertholf.
Starred cards are major punch list items. The starred cards for Waesche are for the ship’s?anchor?dimensions,?incinerator,?and?degaussing?system. Corrections to these discrepancies are underway although testing for the degaussing system will not occur until later when the vessel arrives in California.
Waesche is being constructed by Northrop Grumman [NOC] at its shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss.
Once Waesche is delivered to the Coast Guard it will enter “In Commission Special” status, which means it will not be performing regular patrols but the crew will be doing training and equipment testing. The cutter is expected to leave Mississippi in late December. Final acceptance is a year away.