Compass Points - Ships Ahoy!
Where to get more ships quickly
Compass Points - Ships Ahoy!
Where to get more ships quickly
June 27, 2024
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If the US Marine Corps is going to be the Nation's 24/7/365, global, crisis response force, the Marine Corps needs have more access to more ships. The Marine Corps cannot be the crisis response force of choice if it does not have enough available amphibious ships. The USNI News is reporting that this month the Navy and Marine Corps have agreed on four categories to describe the readiness state of amphibious ships.
1. Fully Mission Capable
2. Mission Capable
3. Partial Mission Capable
4. Non-Mission Capable
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According to the memo, fully mission-capable ships have crews that are trained and ships that are certified to deploy as part of an Amphibious Ready Group with Marine Expeditionary Units embarked. Mission-capable ships have not completed their deployment certification but have basic certifications and can support some Marine missions and training. Partial mission capable are ships that don’t have maintenance problems that would restrict Marine training or are ships that are ready to sail, but the crew is still in training. Non-mission capable ships either have restrictions preventing Marines from training, are in maintenance or underway on sea-trials or preparing to decommission.
-- USNI News
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Of course, merely agreeing on terms does not produce more ships. Lack of ships is the ongoing problem. USNI News frankly reports, "The lack of ready ships has delayed MEU floats in the last several years. In particular, the availability of the big deck amphibious warships that carry the bulk of the MEU’s aviation assets have played havoc with the deployment schedule of the service."
To get the use of more ships more quickly, the Marine Corps may have to look beyond normal Navy shipyard construction and maintenance. It is time to experiment with creative alternatives. There are ships available for Marine Corps use from other sources. Are the alternative ships from alternate sources perfect for Marine Corps use? No, none of them are perfect. All have issues and limitations. But available ships from alternate sources are better than ships that are just not available.
Here are four examples of alternate sources (for more information, see the PDF link below, "Ships Ahoy.").
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1. Military Sealift Command
The MSC has ships ready to be used now.
-- Expeditionary Fast Transports are high-speed, shallow draft ships capable of intra-theater personnel and cargo lift. As many as ten ships may be available immediately.
-- Expeditionary Sea Base is an afloat forward staging base-variant of the mobile landing platform.
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2. US Army
-- Maneuver Support Vessel (Light), MSV (L) is new class of Army watercraft and will replace one-for-one the LCM 8. The Army has a 10 year contract with Vigor LLC to produce the MSV (L). The Marine Corps could become part of the contract.
-- Landing Craft Mechanized - LCM 8. Each time the Army receives a new MSV (L), then a LCM 8 is available for use by the Marine Corps. The LCM 8 performs waterborne transportation of personnel, cargo and equipment during water terminal, waterborne tactical and joint amphibious, riverine or Joint Logistics-Over-The-Shore (JLOTS) operations.
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3. Pacific Allies - South Korea
The US has allies in the Pacific with ship building and maintenance capabilities including Japan, Australia, the Philippines, and South Korea. Some US ship maintenance is already taking place in Japan. Australia is helping to build submarines. In addition, South Korea is becoming a manufacturing powerhouse for military weapons and equipment -- including ship building and maintenance. Just one example is Hyundai Heavy Industries. HHI has built a range of amphibious ships from 125 meters to 176 meters in length.
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4. Maritime Administration – Ready Reserve Fleet
The US Department of Transportation's Ready Reserve Fleet includes four dozen ships crewed and ready for use today. The program began with 6 vessels in 1977 and now consists of 48:
-- 42 roll-on/roll off (RO/RO) vessels, including
-- 8 Fast Sealift Support (FSS) vessels,
-- 7 LMSR's (Large, Medium-Speed, Roll-on/Roll-off),
-- 4 auxiliary crane ships, and
-- 2 aviation repair vessels
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If the US Marine Corps is going to be the Nation's 24/7/365, global, crisis response force, the Marine Corps needs have more access to more ships. It is not enough just to agree on terms. With some initiative, creativity, and experimentation, there are alternate sources for ships. The Marine Corps is in a deep amphibious ship hole. It is time to stop digging, stop complaining, and start climbing out of that hole. There are ship alternatives that could be experimented with today. Let the experiments begin!
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USNI News - 06/25/2024
Navy, Marine Corps Agree on Readiness Standards for Amphibious Warships
By Sam LaGrone
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Compass Points
Ships Ahoy!
https://mega.nz/file/sih2XZpJ#lFigmjYtN2wxDYslPZhH4Ksn2-sX_wFSDJQLkWbwM-0
For a few years informed individuals have suggested buying ships from multiple allied partners. On a visit to the Baltic a few years ago I saw four brand new Finnish built icebreakers in Helsinki. These ships had been built for Russia who could not pay for them. Why did we not buy them at fire sale prices? Others suggested that the confiscated yachts of Drug Lords be provided to the Coast Guard. High speed, great range and state of the art vessels needing minimal modifications. Still others point out that we decommission ships because we lack the manpower and expertise to renovate and modernize. Others pointed to the glut of commercial ships ideal for MPS duties that were for sale. We purchased none.
The US ship building/repair and modernize industry is moribund, in large part due to US contracting anarchy. Yet, we need ships. Buy them until we can rejuvenate the broken shipping building industry.
We cannot plan to be ready for war in 2035. We must be ready tomorrow.
Doug
That's the rub. Are we at our Canberra / QE2 moment (UK Falklands TF) where risk of not being able to execute a mission outweighs the risk of using repurposed commercial shipping? Do we need to seriously consider converted liners, repurposed cargo ships, leased RO/RO ferries, and more MV Ocean Traders(built as MEU Ops support vessels vice Special Operations)? In the short term, since we have to prioritize Surface Warfare Vessels and Submarines, the answer, however undesirable, is clear. To keep the MAGTF globally viable and rebuild amphib capability in the short term (6mo / 2yr), we need to supplement the Amphib Fleet with repurposed commercial shipping. [reposted from March with edits]