Big boom in big ship repair in San Diego

[unhappycamper]

Workers will apply 200,000 gallons of paint to the Bonhomme Richard, as well as add 20,000 feet of pipes and 15,000 feet of wire.



By Gary Robbins
Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 5:59 p.m.

~snip~

The 20-story amphibious warship Bonhomme Richard, scarred by the sea and the stress of carrying almost 3,000 people, is up on blocks at General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego.

Long fingers of rust line the inner hull. The ship’s 15.5-ton propellers need to be checked for cracks. There’s resurfacing to do on the 2.2-acre flight deck. And pipes must be replaced in the boilers, which produce roughly as much energy as is consumed each day in Escondido.

~snip~

The Navy’s Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, which oversees all 61 of the fleet’s vessels in San Diego, says the amount it spent to repair and upgrade warships rose from $539 million in fiscal 2007 to $775 million in 2010.

The figure is projected to go higher in 2011, as the Navy and private contractors hustle to repair everything from destroyers, which can fire long-range cruise missiles, to “gators” like the Bonhomme Richard, which can put Marines ashore. The Navy has already announced that another amphibious warship, the Essex, will replace the Bonhomme Richard in dry dock next April.

The boom is being spurred by political and military factors that could create and preserve jobs locally for years.



unhappycamper comment: "political and military factors" = MICC sprawl

[MsLeopard]

1. Do you have a link for this?

My company does business with NASSCO and I'd like to send my boss the link - looks like NASSCO has money to spend!

Also, thank you for posting so much information on how the military budget of our nation is being spent. It's a great service to DU. Happy Holidays! :toast:

[unhappycamper]

2. Here you go:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/dec/18/big-boom-big-ship-repair-san-diego/

My bad - the editing window expired.

[MsLeopard]

3. Thank you

:hi: