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Navy names chief shipbuilder

The Navy has named Rear Adm. Charles H. Goddard as its new program executive officer for ships.

Goddard, most recently vice commander of Naval Sea Systems Command, fills the void created when the Navy reassigned Rear Adm. Charles Hamilton just after the start of the new year. Hamilton was reportedly reassigned due to disagreements over plans for the Navy’s open architecture systems approach and cost increases for the new Littoral Combat Ship.

Hamilton, who’d served as PEO Ships since April 2003, was reassigned to the Navy’s Foreign Military Sales office. The Navy initially denied that Hamilton had been reassigned.

The Navy is struggling to handle cost growth on the Littoral Combat Ship, one of the most significant projects under Hamilton’s direction. A threshold of $220 million per ship was broken a year ago when Navy estimates were adjusted to include other acquisition costs and price increases on the Lockheed Martin’s monohull and General Dynamics’ trimaran designs. But recent reviews of the program show costs rising potentially well above $300 million for each ship, not including costs for the mission modules necessary for each ship to carry out their missions.

Goddard, a 1978 Naval Academy graduate, became an engineering officer in 1981 and has held numerous jobs in the Navy’s engineering community, including New Construction Officer for the Supervisor of Shipbuilding San Diego from 1995-98. More recently, he served as the DD(X) Program Manager.