Conclusion
In late 2005, sea state restrictions were given to the cutters requiring better workmanship and quality for construction in the future. At the same time, these refits were halted with only eight out of the intended 49 cutters actually being worked on. On November 30, 2006, Admiral Thad Allen, Coast Guard Commandant, personally gave a direct order to immediately decommission all eight converted ships. The crews were dispersed to other cutters in the United States Coast Guard seventh District and the ships were towed to Baltimore, Maryland where they remain in a Reserve fleet as of October 2008. These eight ships encountered a total loss after being decommissioned in 2006. They will now have to be scrapped resulting in a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars and precious jobs.
The 110 foot patrol boats proved to be an effective addition to the drug and immigration enforcement, search and rescue, and fishery law enforcement. The Island class cutter design is approaching a period of time where the remaining 110 foot cutters are aging and will either not be maintained adequately or will not be replaced by something newer. A Coast Guard committee found this situation unacceptable and wanted immediate action to avoid any loss in the Coast Guard's operational readiness or national maritime security. The Coast Guard ended the Deepwater Conversion plan early enough to save upwards of $80,000,000 originally planned to be spent altering these vessels. While the Coast Guard has sped up the development associated with the Fast Response Cutter and Sentinel class cutter, with the 123 foot conversion program idled, there are fewer small patrol craft due to the absence of the converted patrol boats being taken out of service. The fact that six 110 foot cutters are absent due to supporting the Global War on Terror is further complicating the ability of the Coast Guard to have adequate underway patrol coverage domestically. The six deployed cutters have no expected date of return from overseas duty.
Read more about this topic: USCGC Matagorda (WPB-1303)
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