The U.S. Navy is joining forces with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) to refit and modernize up to five of the Yard Patrol (YP) 676 class training craft.
Work will be performed at the USCG Yard in Baltimore, Maryland, and will allow the midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) to continue training onboard these craft.
The craft were originally delivered to the USNA located in Annapolis, Maryland from 1986-1988 and are continuously used to train midshipmen on piloting, seamanship, navigation, and engineering.
“It’s a win-win cooperative effort between the Navy and USCG,” said Mike Kosar , program manager, Support Ships, Boats, and Craft, Program Executive Office Ships (PEO Ships). “It provides an opportunity to partner with the U.S. Coast Guard Yard and utilize their resources while developing a workforce experienced in YP craft repair and overhaul local to the USNA to support future in-service needs of the vessels.”
YP 688 is the first craft to arrive for modernization and will be followed by up to four additional craft through early 2020. According to the navy, planned work will impact nearly every portion of the craft from wooden hull repair work to overhaul and modernization of the propulsion and electric generating equipment. The craft that undergo the treatment will be able to remain in service for another ten years.
USNA has used the 108-foot wooden-hulled YP craft to teach familiarization with water craft, basic damage control, and provide underway instruction of basic to advanced seamanship and navigation. The training is designed to develop within midshipmen the abilities of an officer-of-the-deck, a proficiency in navigation, and a working knowledge of afloat operations in a safe shipboard environment equipped with modern systems essential to seamanship and navigation.