LPD-17 INSURV

Here is it, much talked about and promised - let's take a peek. If you want to read in context, you can download the whole thing (thanks to the scan from a couple of readers who will remain nameless) here.

First of all, we need to keep in mind that this is first in class, so expect a very tough INSURV. These types of ships are hard to get right, and usually a lot of Sailor sweat and national treasure is spent to get it right so follow-on units of the class have an easier time.

The CO and his Sailors were given an incomplete ship and a steep angle to climb. They have made great progress, but in spite of all their blood, sweat and toil - we owe it to the larger Navy to look at their ship with a cool, unblinking eye. Learn and process what you read.

That standard disclaimer aside, if you follow the LPD-17 tag below you will see that this is a very "special" ship. It still is special. Let's dig around and see what we can find.
Ohhhhhh, the humanity! Just a firehose of pain. The next para starts,

Delivered in JUL 05, USS SAN ANTONIO remains an unfinished ship. 138 of 943 spaces are unfinished and estimated completion dates o fthese spaces could not be determined.

Like watching a train wreck, let's keep watching.
Like that warranty? The next bit is for Byron, especially the last part. Two words for you my friend; job security.
Correct me if I am wrong, but what does this tell you about proper PMS? Are they even doing it, or just not doing it right? Did they not get underway enough to find this stuff out ahead of time?
This and para 3.E will put you in the "sitting duck" spot real fast.
I know of one way to get Sailors more rack time.
We all know about the fancy new Damage Control software and systems. The thing is, how much good do they do you when the fundamentals are...
Well, if the thing just sinks you should be just fine.
Yep, that is 79% - not there.

Is the ship ready to go in harm's way?
Hey, remember IT21 in the late '90s? Regret you were not part of the first IT21 Battle Group? No problem there Shipmate - we like the 1990's too! And it looks like some know how to find DRMO.
You know, I can almost smell the Suez canal from here.

The following is a great concern of mine - because if true, something very wrong has happened to "Not on my watch; not on my ship; not in my Navy!" Is this my Navy?
No autodog!?! No coffee in the Chief's Mess!?! Then again, that could explain a lot.

Don't think anyone will be conducting flight ops any time soon.

So much for the wonders of the new CAD systems that was supposed to make everything come out the other end better. There is a lot more there, I just pulled those things that caught my eye. Note in the last extract above, Aviation was UNSAT at 0.59. Propulsion was UNSAT at 0.54 and Auxiliaries was UNSAT at 0.52. At this point, all

Again, don't beat up on the crew too much, they were give a tough job to do. Just try to learn. I know that the CO of the NEW ORLEANS and MESA VERDE are looking over this with a fine tooth comb. As for the Sailors of the SAN ANTONIO - you have more work to do - but you are going to make in the end a great ship.