Shipbuilding 101
First-of-Class
Among the industrial activities the government’s uniformed services undertake, shipbuilding has unique pride of place. Unlike aircraft or automotive manufacturing, where many more-or-less identical platforms are produced, ships typically are built in series (that is, one at a time). There is little or no prototyping in shipbuilding, beyond some laboratory work with advanced hull forms or other structures. A new aircraft design may have been built and flown many times before actual first article production begins. A prototype aircraft rarely is delivered to the customer as an operational asset. In shipbuilding, the first-of-“class” (a series built to the same basic design) often serves as the class prototype, as well as the first article delivered for government service.
Design
Following a system design & development phase (including prototyping), new aircraft are vetted throughout a Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) period before Full Rate Production (FRP) begins. In shipbuilding the terms LRIP and FRP (very familiar to the military industrial complex) are more loosely applied. A first-of-class ship is constructed directly from designs or drawings that are maturing as building continues. Because of the complexity of these processes, first-of-class ships may take between three and six years to complete—from contract award to Delivery. Lessons are being learned and applied as the ship is being built, and with each subsequent hull constructed in the class. So there may be significant hull, mechanical & electrical design or architectural variation from one number to the next within a class of ships.
Assembling in Units
While it is difficult to draw direct parallels between shipbuilding and the assembly line processes that produce aircraft or automobiles, the US shipbuilding industrial base has implemented similar technologies and processes to improve efficiency and quality control. For example, today’s larger shipyards are equipped to erect ships in individual assemblies, which contain decks stacked within huge sections of the ship’s outer hull. The units are built upside down (because welding with gravity is more efficient than working against it) at large assembly halls, away from the waterfront. There, the assemblies are outfitted with piping, ventilation ducts and other sub-assemblies and equipment. In certain sections of the ship, these units are stacked together in what are called ‘grand blocks.’ The completed units and grand blocks are then brought down to the ship’s keel (laid at a site along the waterfront) where the units are assembled, or erected, and welded together.
Milestones
Simplified, the sequence of events in a shipbuilding project is:
- A mission need leads to the development of operational requirements for a new ship.
- Requirements are used to inform the ship project’s concept and design development phase, and a contract for the project is awarded to industry.
- Once the design is matured to a certain degree in drawings or models, the shipbuilder Lays the Keel and begins construction.
- As construction progresses, the government selects a Ship’s Name and a sponsor (usually a dignitary, or –traditionally–the eldest female descendent of the person for whom the ship is named).
- In a ceremony, the sponsor Christens the ship, at which time it officially receives its name.
- When construction is almost complete, the ship undergoes a series of Sea Trials, which are comprehensive government and industry inspections, tests and evaluations of the materiel condition and functionality of ship as measured against the project’s requirements.
- When trials are concluded and the ship is judged to be satisfactory, the shipbuilder Delivers it to the government. Delivery marks the date when the ship has been found acceptable for service and becomes government property.
- Commissioning follows a period many months preparation, training, further inspection and testing. Commissioned ships are considered operational assets, having earned the title USCGC (or USS, in the case of US Navy warships).