Page 54: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 1993)

NEW TECHNOLOGY

Intermarine Delivers First Of Minehunter Class

Vessel Is First Glass Reinforced Plastic Vessel For U.S. Navy

The Osprey, the first ship of a new class of Minehunters for the U.S. Navy from Intermarine USA, is constructed of glass reinforced plastic.

Intermarine USA of Savannah, Ga. com-pleted and delivered the first ship of a new class of Minehunter for the U.S. Navy, the USS Osprey, MHC 51, Coastal Minehunter.

The ship is the first major vessel to be built of glass reinforced plastic for the U.S. Navy. Ac- cording to Intermarine, the U.S. Navy selected its glass reinforced plastic as a material not only because it is non-magnetic, but also because of its high shock resistance, its noise and vibration damping characteristics (reportedly six times better than steel); its weight (30 percent lighter than steel); and because of its excellent fire and ballistic protection per unit weight.

The ship will remain at the Intermarine ship- yard during the Post Delivery Availability pe- riod, and will be formally commissioned on No- vember 20, 1993. The Osprey will then sail to the U.S. Naval base at Charleston, S.C. Follow- ing further U.S. Navy ship trials, the vessel will be homeported at Ingleside, Texas in the spring of 1994.

The delivery of the first ship represents the culmination of a successful technology transfer from Italy to the U.S.

In 1986 Intermarine SpA of Sarzana, Italy, was invited by the U.S. Navy to transfer its composite material design and production tech- nology to the U.S. to support the new Coastal

Minehunter program. In response, Intermarine

USA was established in 1987 following a U.S.

Navy contract to build large minehunters using composite materials.

Construction of the Osprey, the lead ship of the MHC-51 Minehunter Class, started in May 1988, one year after the original contract award.

The class is 188 feet long with a 900-ton dis- placement, and is equipped with modern vari- able depth sonar and an integrated digital con- trol system.

The composite materials fabrication building at Intermarine USA has an area of more than 160,000-sq.-ft. and is equipped with six semi- automatic resin/glass impregnators on fully- articulated bridge cranes. The facility is large enough to house six minehunter vessels or molds, all undercover, simultaneously. Overhead crane service can accommodate loads of up to 66 tons, while the building rail system is used to move complete ship hulls.

Intermarine USA regularly accesses the re- lated composite technologies provided by

Ferruzzi companies worldwide. In particular,

Intermarine SpA, Tencara, both in Italy and SP

Systems in California, combined with

Intermarine in Savannah, Ga. to provide a com- plete capability in the development and manu- facturing of advanced composites for marine, aerospace and industrial use. Of particular interest are the carbon fiber/epoxy/honeycomb

The Osprey's crew at its August 23 delivery. core yachts and offshore racing boats. Ves- sels up to 200 feet long have been successfully built to date and a 118-foot, 50-knot Surface

Effect Ship is currently under construction.

In addition, a number of fast patrol boats have been constructed using glass and ar- amid hybrid fabrics, as well as numerous glass reinforced plastic recreational and gov- ernment agency vessels. In support of the

Minehunter program and other contracts,

Intermarine has established Technical and

Integrated Logistics Support departments staffed with experienced engineers, design- ers and logisticians.

For more information on Intermarine USA,

Circle 67 on Reader Service Card

Osprey Equipment List

Main engines Fincantieri Diesel Grandi Motori (FDGM)

Propellers Voith Schneider

Generators FDGM

Engine/Steering controls Paramax

Deck machinery Pelligrini

Mine hunting sonar Raytheon

Coatings International

Pumps Carver

Ventilation fans Buffalo Forge

Shaft couplings Holset

Joiner work Jamestown Metal Marine

Polyester resin DSM/Owens Corning

Glass fabric Vetrotex/Chomaratst

Vacuum sewage Envirovac

Fancoils Mclntyre

Air compressors Rix Industries

Air conditioning York

Reverse osmosis desalination Village Marine

Anchors Baldt

Anchor windlass New England Trawler

Bearings Michell

Combat system Paramax 56 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News