Cyclones Upgraded

My thanks to DJF for the heads-up on this item.

Two shipyards in Norfolk, VA, are being awarded separate contracts for dry-docking and miscellaneous structural, electrical, and mechanical repairs on two Cyclone class PCs, USS Hurricane (PC-3) and USS Monsoon (PC-4).  The contracts are for $14M and $18M, respectively.  By comparison, the original construction costs were around $11M each although that was 15-20 years ago with the ships being built in the 1990’s.  Still, to spend that kind of money on vessels that were supposed to be recalled from duty in 2010 due to hull fatigue damage is astounding.  The ships were designed for a 15 year life.  Recall that this is one of the classes of ship that were supposed to be replaced by the LCS.  That being the case, why are these ships being upgraded rather than retired?  Is this an admission that the LCS can’t fill the role?  Is it a simple recognition that the Navy has allowed the fleet size to shrink too far and more vessels, regardless of type, are needed?  Is it a statement that smaller patrol vessels fill a vital role and the Navy’s decades long neglect of, and contempt for, small patrol vessels was unwise?  Is the Navy getting back into the small patrol vessel business?  Who knows?!



Cyclone Class PC - A Longer Life Ahead?



Will the entire class be upgraded over time or is there some special reason why only these two are being attended to?  Again, who knows?

What’s clear is that someone in the Navy made an extraordinary decision in this time of severe budget constraints to pour money (a pittance by new construction standards, to be sure) into ships that are at or past their rated life, should have been replaced by the vaunted LCS, and have been all but ignored by the Navy for the class’ entire lifespan.  That’s saying something profound as regards Navy thinking.  I just don’t know what the official thinking is. 

Cyclone Class Tour

ComNavOps occasionally takes a day off from guiding the Navy to enjoy himself and today was such a day.  I had the great good fortune to take a tour of the Cyclone class ship the USS Hurricane, PC-3.  The crew, as has been the case on every ship I've ever toured, was simply marvelous - opening their ship to us, the public, answering the same basic questions over and over again, and genuinely happy to do it.  The crew's pride in their ship is quite obvious and a pleasure to experience.



Cyclone Class Patrol Vessel

 The Cyclones are an odd case in Navy history.  Like other classes of small ship built by the Navy, they've been shunted aside by "big" Navy despite seemingly being able to fill a need.  The Navy needs small patrol vessels capable of being the policeman on the corner.  The Philippines, various places in Africa, and the Mid East, among other locations, could all benefit from this type of small patrol ship.  These vessels also seem to be good special ops platforms for small, quiet insertions.  However, despite the apparent usefulness of these ships, the Navy has never embraced them and has tried repeatedly to give them to the Coast Guard and other countries.  Even when they were used by the Navy, it was with reluctance.  It seems a shame.


Mk38 Gun on Cyclone Class

 A follow-on class of this type of ship, possibly with somewhat beefed up weapons systems and special ops support, would seem a natural fit for today's Navy - patrol, interdiction, anti-piracy, boarding, show-the-flag, third world training, etc.  These ships cost $20M when built and even in today's hyper-inflated cost era should still be a bargain.

Come on Navy, think small!