Sailors from the coastal patrol ships USS Hurricane and USS Monsoon wave to personnel on a pier after being transported by a yacht carrier vessel and arriving in Bahrain, Aug. 10, 2014. The Hurricane and Monsoon are the last two of 10 coastal patrol ships that are part of a realignment plan in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (Felicito Rustique/U.S. Navy)
Sailors from the coastal patrol ships USS Hurricane and USS Monsoon wave to personnel on a pier after being transported by a yacht carrier vessel and arriving in Bahrain, Aug. 10, 2014. The Hurricane and Monsoon are the last two of 10 coastal patrol ships that are part of a realignment plan in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (Felicito Rustique/U.S. Navy)
Sailors from the coastal patrol ships USS Hurricane and USS Monsoon shake hands with Cmdr. Thomas Shultz, commodore of Patrol Coastal Squadron 1, after disembarking from a yacht carrier vessel and arriving in Bahrain, Aug. 10, 2014. The Hurricane and Monsoon are the last two of 10 ships that are part of a realignment plan in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (Felicito Rustique/U.S. Navy)
The coastal patrol ships USS Hurricane and USS Monsoon stand by to transit to Naval Support Activity Bahrain from a yacht carrier vessel, Aug. 12, 2014. The Hurricane and Monsoon are the last two of 10 coastal patrol ships that are part of a realignment plan in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (Felicito Rustique/U.S. Navy)
Cmdr. Thomas Shultz, commodore of Patrol Coastal Squadron 1, watches the coastal patrol ships USS Hurricane and USS Monsoon prepare to transit to Naval Support Activity Bahrain from a yacht carrier vessel, Aug. 13, 2014. The Hurricane and Monsoon are the last two of 10 coastal patrol ships that are part of a realignment plan in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (Felicito Rustique/U.S. Navy)
The coastal patrol ships USS Hurricane and USS Monsoon arrive at their new homeport of Naval Support Activity Bahrain, Aug. 13, 2014. The Hurricane and Monsoon are the last two of 10 coastal patrol ships that are part of a realignment plan in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (Steve Smith/U.S. Navy)
Petty Officer 1st Class Sher Butt, an interior communications technician aboard the USS Monsoon, fixes an alarm panel in engineering, Aug 28, 2014. The Monsoon and the USS Hurricane, which arrived in Bahrain on Aug. 13, are undergoing a reactivation process at their new homeport. (Hendrick Simoes/Stars and Stripes)
A sailor aboard the USS Monsoon cleans a machine gun placed outside the ship's bridge, Aug 28, 2014. The Monsoon is outfitted with .50 cals, the lightweight Griffin Missile System and a 25mm autocannon. (Hendrick Simoes/Stars and Stripes)
The USS Monsoon moves to a different spot alongside the pier at Naval Support Activity Bahrain, Aug 28, 2014. The Monsoon and the USS Hurricane are undergoing a reactivation process at their new homeport in Bahrain. (Hendrick Simoes/Stars and Stripes)
Deck crews moor the USS Monsoon to a new spot alongside the pier at Naval Support Activity Bahrain, Aug 28, 2014. The Monsoon and the USS Hurricane are undergoing a reactivation process at their new homeport. Both ships arrived here Aug. 13 on a commercial shipping vessel from Norfolk, Va. (Hendrick Simoes/Stars and Stripes)
MANAMA, BAHRAIN — The U.S. Navy has increased to 10 the number of Coastal Patrol ships permanently based in Bahrain, boosting the capacity of the 5th Fleet, which is based here, to conduct maritime security operations in the Persian Gulf.
Their small size — 79 feet — and versatility make Coastal Patrol ships, known as PCs, ideally suited to operations in the Middle East, officials say.
The addition of the USS Hurricane and USS Monsoon here last month completes a Navy realignment plan, initiated in May of last year, to increase the PC presence in the 5th Fleet area of responsibility from five to 10 ships. Three arrived last summer.
With a crew of roughly 25, a Coastal Patrol ship is capable of conducting coastal surveillance, protecting infrastructure, intelligence collection and supporting special operations missions. They are close in size to the ships of U.S. allies in the region, allowing them to integrate and operate well together with other navies.
However, getting the Monsoon and Hurricane ready for deployment is taking some time. Since they arrived Aug. 13 on a commercial shipping vessel from Norfolk, Va., the crews have been conducting maintenance and bringing systems online.
“It would be lovely to say it’s as easy as flipping a switch and the ship comes back on, but ships are meant to be in the water and being operated, so after a period of inactivity you’re going to find some stuff that you’ve developed over time while it was out of the water,” said Lt. Hunter Washburn, the Monsoon’s commander.
Once fully operational in the next few weeks, the two additional ships will help spread the high operational tempo of the PC fleet. With more ships available, the Navy has eliminated “crew swaps.” In the past, with few ships, crews would man the PCs in Bahrain on a six-month unaccompanied rotational basis. Now crews are permanently assigned to the ships, allowing them to bring their families to Bahrain on two-year stints.
“I think that’s a huge incentive to bring their families out,” Washburn said. “I think it will provide a greater stability for the ships.”
For sailors, Bahrain has generally been thought of as a remote location, but that is changing.
“Before I ever came here, I was thinking about desert and camels and stuff like that, but they [Bahrain] have a lot to offer,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Sher Butt, an interior communications technician aboard the Monsoon, noting among other things the variety of restaurant choices. “Bahrain is pretty nice.”
