USCGC Bertholf (WMSL-750)

USCGC Bertholf (WMSL-750)
History
United States
Namesake: Commodore Ellsworth P. Bertholf, USCG
Ordered: January 2001
Builder: Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Pascagoula, Mississippi
Cost: $641 million[1]
Laid down: March 29, 2005
Launched: September 29, 2006
Christened: November 11, 2006
Commissioned: August 4, 2008
Homeport: Integrated Support Command Alameda
Motto: "Legends Begin Here"
Status: Commissioned
Badge:
General characteristics
Type: National Security Cutter
Displacement: 4500 LT
Length: 418 feet (127.40 meters)
Beam: 54 feet (16.46 meters)
Draft: 22.5 feet (6.86 meters)
Propulsion:
Speed: 28+ knots
Range: 12,000 nm
Complement: 113 (14 Officers)
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • EADS TRS-3D Air Search Radar
  • SPQ-9B Fire Control Radar
  • AN/SPS-73 Surface Search Radar
  • AN/SLQ-32
Electronic warfare
& decoys:
  • AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare System
  • 2 SRBOC/ 2 NULKA countermeasures chaff/rapid decoy launcher
Armament:
Aircraft carried: (2) MH-65C Dolphin MCH, or (4) VUAV or (1) MH-65C Dolphin MCH and (2) VUAV
Aviation facilities: 50x80 foot flight deck, hangar for all aircraft

USCGC Bertholf (WMSL-750) is the first Legend-class maritime security cutter of the United States Coast Guard. She is named for Commodore Ellsworth P. Bertholf, fourth Commandant of both the Revenue Cutter Service and Coast Guard.

In 2005, construction began at Northrop Grumman's Ship Systems Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was launched on September 29, 2006,[3] christened November 11, 2006,[4] and commissioned on August 4, 2008. The cutter's home port is Alameda, California. Bertholf was the first to fire the Bofors 57 mm gun aboard a U.S. vessel on the 11th of February 2008.

National Security Cutter

Bertholf is the lead ship of the National Security Cutter design and the first large ship to be built under the Coast Guard's multi-year Deepwater acquisitions project. The NSCs are to replace the fleet's aging 1960s 378-foot Hamilton-class cutters.

Features

Deepwater Controversy

The Deepwater program was subjected to public scrutiny in late 2006 and early 2007 following reports of overspending and design flaws. Specifically, the issues with Bertholf relate to the projected life of the ship. Originally the Coast Guard had expected the cutter to be a single-crew vessel, and spend a normal amount of time in port and underway. However, the US Coast Guard decided to implement a multi-crew system, similar but distinct to what the US Navy uses on its ballistic missile submarines. Rather than the Navy's system of two crews sharing a single hull, the CG multi-crew concept involve both multiple crews and multiple hulls. The addition of the multi-crewing enables the ship to spend more time at sea each year, but also decreases the expected lifespan of the vessel from 30 years to 20 years.

References

  1. ↑ USCG National Security Cutters: Bad News, Good News
  2. ↑ Dieselmann Wordpress
  3. ↑ Integrated Coast Guard Systems - Deepwater Program Official Website
  4. ↑ USCG: Acquisition Directorate (CG-9)
  5. ↑ National security cutter approved for classified operations
  6. ↑ http://www.cassidian.com/cassidian/int/en/business-activities/naval-systems/sensors/TRS-3D-MSSR-2000I.html

External links

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