PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii – Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard dry-docked USS Chosin (CG 65) Dec. 9 – the first of three cruisers homeported in Hawaii that will undergo a $220 million modernization beginning Jan. 19. The six-month project is the largest surface ship availability in Hawaii in nearly two decades.
“This work represents a significant surge in our Shipyard’s workload, and we will rely heavily on our partnership with the private sector to accomplish both needed repairs as well as modernizing Chosin,” said Industry Management Department Head Cmdr. Kate Dolloff. “Our project team’s goal is to set the standard for Cruiser Modernization.”
The Cruiser Modernization Program ensures the Navy’s 22 cruisers will reach their 35- to 40-year service life. BAE Systems Ship Repair will be the private contractor performing a heavy share of the work on Chosin, which is the first modernization in any public shipyard.
Six hundred workers a day will be executing the first part of the Cruiser Modernization Program, but the project will require 600 more skilled tradesmen and women from off-island to satisfy project demands.
Chosin modernization, the largest surface ship availability performed through a private-public partnership at the Shipyard, requires close high-visibility input and evaluation. On Dec. 13-16, four admirals attended the project’s Integrated Project Team Development session – Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Vice Adm. Kevin McCoy; Commander, Navy Regional Maintenance Command (CNRMC) Rear Adm. David Gale; Deputy Chief of Staff for Regional Maintenance, Commander, Pacific Fleet Rear Adm. Richard Berkey and Commander, Naval Region Hawaii and Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific Rear Adm. Dixon Smith.
“At these meetings, the team works on strategies and ensures everyone is on the same page before we begin the availability,” said Shipyard Chosin Project Manager Ivy Caires.
The three main jobs on Chosin will be conversion from steam to electric power, installing integrated ship’s control and stiffening the mid banks, which carry fuel. The conversion to electrical equipment eliminates waste heat boilers and improves sailor quality of life with electric laundry washers and dryers, galley kettles, dishwashers, heaters and water distilling plants, explained Caires.
“Our success is paramount, not only to the local economy, but also to the quality of life for the sailors, enabling them to remain in their homeport for this extended availability,” said Dolloff.
Shipyard workers will be performing anchor chain repairs, weather deck conduit replacements and a first-time docking and undocking process, according to Caires.
The Shipyard docking team previously used pieces of wood to hold docking blocks together in a process called “cribbing” for increased stability when gliding ships into dry dock.
“(However), in preparation for this docking, our naval architects designed a method to meet the cribbing requirement using steel pipe staging material instead of wood,” said Docking Officer Lt. Lorenz Tate. “This new cribbing method should prove to be more cost-effective in the long run as the steel will last much longer.”
Due to a leak in the caisson during the docking procedure, Chosin had to be re-docked hours after its original placement on the blocks. “This evolution required quick response, and the support from personnel was overwhelming,” said Tate. “The teamwork that was displayed allowed us to safely execute this high-risk evolution in a timely manner.” Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard is a full-service naval shipyard and regional maintenance center for the U.S. Navy’s surface ships and submarines. It is the largest industrial employer in the state of Hawaii with a combined civilian and military workforce of about 4,800. It has an operating budget of $563 million and infuses $700 million a year into the local economy.
Strategically located in the mid-Pacific, the shipyard is about a week of steam time closer to potential major regional contingencies in East Asia than sites on the West Coast.
For more information about the shipyard, visit www.navsea.navy.mil/shipyards/pearl.
| Date Taken: | 01.03.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.27.2011 20:25 |
| Story ID: | 69451 |
| Location: | PEARL HARBOR, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 259 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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