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San Antonio shipping out

NORFOLK, Va. — The banner on the brow of the amphibious transport dock San Antonio reads, “Never Retreat. Never Surrender.” And for a while there, it also looked as if the ship would never deploy.

But after years of design problems and delays, the San Antonio finally is ready to head overseas. The ship, the first of the LPD 17 class, is scheduled to depart Norfolk this week as part of the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group, Navy officials say.

“She is ready for deployment,” 2nd Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Herman Phillips said.

The San Antonio class represents a totally new design for amphibious warfare ships inside and out. And the first ship in the class will be closely watched during its maiden voyage.

“Allowing the operators to explore how this ship can be used will be very, very important,” said Bob Work, senior defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “I am anxious to hear the after-action reports.”

At a hefty 25,000-tons displacement with a 105-foot beam — just a foot narrower than a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship — the San Antonio-class is replacing four “legacy” L-classes. It has a well deck, flight deck, and massive space for supplies and vehicles. It also has berthing for 720 Marines that, unlike the very spare quarters in older ships, features racks with enough headroom to sit up. From the very beginning, Marines were allowed to give input to the ship’s design.

But the San Antonio had a troubled fleet debut. After arriving late and over-budget in 2005, an initial inspection report revealed major problems.

Board of Inspection and Survey officers found the ship “incomplete” and unsafe for crew members to board in a July 5, 2005, report. Inspectors found “poor construction and craftsmanship ... throughout the ship.”

Wiring was also problematic.

“Poor initial cable-pulling practice led to what is now a snarled, over-packed, poorly-assembled and virtually uncorrectable electrical/electronic cable plant,” the report states.

The San Antonio made headlines again in April 2007, after the ship was deemed “unsuccessful” because of several equipment failures and “unreliable” steering during March sea trials. However, the report commends the crew for presenting the ship “professionally.”

Still, the catalog of problems prompted Navy Secretary Donald Winter to write a June 22, 2007, letter to shipbuilder Northrop Grumman complaining that two years after commissioning, the fleet “still does not have a mission-capable ship.”

Over its early life, San Antonio’s price also rose from a 1996 estimate of $876 million to $1.85 billion, once all of its discrepancies were corrected.

“All first ships of a class have problems, and LPD 17 has more than its share,” Work said. “And it was delivered in shockingly bad condition.”

Now ready for deployment after extensive work by the crew and shipbuilder, Work said the test will be how the ship functions and whether it lives up to its flexible design.

“We have to see if the ship performs well, and an operational deployment is where the rubber meets the road,” he said. “There’s never been a question in my mind that the design is solid.”

Its wide beam and vast spaces, capable self-defense systems, advanced communications and electronic warfare gear mean it can serve as an amphib, a command ship or a hospital ship, he said.

In addition to its well-deck and large-vehicle bays for Marine vehicles and equipment, the San Antonio is built with a forward space to hold 16 vertical launch system missile tubes.

“If you wanted to put them in, in the future, it’s nice to have the space for it,” Work said.

The San Antonio had been scheduled to deploy in March with the Nassau Expeditionary Strike Group, but it was taken out of that rotation when new systems were installed and further crew training was needed, Phillips said. The 38-year-old amphibious transport dock Nashville made the deployment, even after being delayed for two days on the pier due to a problem in its aging steam plant. The Navy recently announced that the aging Austin-class Nashville will be decommissioned.

The San Antonio is expected to deploy with the amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima, dock landing ship Carter Hall, cruiser Vella Gulf, destroyers Ramage and Roosevelt, and attack submarine Hartford. The ESG will carry the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.