From U.S. Navy destroyers to cruisers to support ships, the appearance of rusty decks and rust streaks seem to make the U.S. Navy ships appear old, worn and battered, neglected and ignored. The bright and dark brown rust streaks contrast starkly with the gray paint of U.S. Navy warships, and the ships’ “unclean appearances” generated calls for more and better maintenance, or invoked criticism about the backlog of shipyard maintenance. When compared to foreign naval ships with their clean gray paint, the U.S. Navy warships of late look downright rusty, dingy, and dirty.
What is the truth to the U.S. Navy warships’ rusty appearances? Is it really the new paint? What about the surface deck coatings? And how does the U.S. Navy respond to the criticisms of rust plaguing the steel of its ships?
Naval News sent an inquiry in May 2023 to the U.S. Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) seeking the truth to these questions and received a reply on June 5, 2023 from Jamie Koehler of NAVSEA Public Affairs.
“NAVSEA has worked successfully for decades to improve the corrosion-control performance of coatings while simultaneously reducing the adverse impact of coatings on the environment. In the 1990s, Navy tank coatings had a performance life of five to seven years, but emitted paint solvents when applied. NAVSEA worked with domestic and foreign commercial coating manufacturers to develop ultrahigh solids epoxy tank coatings that do not contain any paint solvent. Since these coatings were first applied in the early 2000s, many coated tanks have remained corrosion-free for 15 to 20 years. These coatings are required on all Navy ships and have contributed to extending the drydocking periodicities,” wrote Ms. Koehler via email.
“NAVSEA has had similar success in transitioning the fleet from silicone alkyd topside coatings that required reapplication, to new high-performance and environmentally acceptable polysiloxane coatings that provide extended service life. Because of the durability and color stability of polysiloxane coatings, ship’s force is able to use water solvent cleaning kits to clean paint without emitting harmful chemicals into the environment. NAVSEA also has adopted high-performance powder coatings for use on topside parts as powder coatings are inherently hard, durable, and color stable, and contain no paint solvents. NAVSEA maintains lists of qualified polysiloxane coatings to ensure price competition between suppliers.” Ms. Koehler continued, “NAVSEA is also the current world leader in adopting metal-based, thermal spray nonskid technologies. NAVSEA researchers are actively involved in efforts such as the National Shipbuilding Research Program that is investigating technologies like drones and robots for coating applications. To date, the most successful use of robotic processes to coat Navy ships has been associated with the metallic nonskid coatings. In this process, a robot is used to apply the thermal spray coating to the flight deck in a controlled, consistent manner.”
According to the Washington Times in August 2022, the rust streaks on U.S. Navy ships have attracted the attention of Navy officers who cite that ships’ appearances, impressions, standards, and reputation count when sailing the world’s oceans. When compared to ships of foreign navies, the U.S. Navy ships appear old and worn. However, the Washington Times did admit that most foreign navies’ ships operate close to their own nations’ shores and often do not sail globally for extended periods of time.
Critics of rusty brown-streaked U.S. Navy ships point out that the high-operational tempo of the U.S. Navy, and the backlog of shipyard maintenance, has led to a worn and battered appearance of Navy ships returning from deployments. One solution the interviewed Navy officers suggest is that the U.S. Navy needs to build more new ships to replace the old ships in order to patrol the world’s oceans more efficiently and effectively. Certainly, the new USS Constellation-class frigates (FFG 62) and new Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) destroyers will help in addition to ship overhauls and service life extensions on old hulls.
Naval News followed up with a second inquiry to NAVSEA asking why U.S. Navy ships appear so rusty in recent years. NAVSEA’s Jamie Koehler sent a reply on June 16, 2023.
“The U.S. Navy has an inherently high operational tempo [around the world]. The vast majority of Navy ships are made of steel, which incurs corrosion from exposure to seawater. As such, any scratches or wear in coatings that expose steel on ships will result in corrosion and rust staining. It’s important to note that for our ships and crews, shipboard preservation never stops. Our crews devote considerable time and effort to preserving and maintaining the interior-exterior areas of ships while balancing operational requirements and adhering to Navy shipboard procedures and environmental regulations. We take a methodical approach to preserving our ships, synchronizing efforts with other maintenance requirements to ensure ships are ready and fully mission capable.”
Regarding the destroyer USS Stout (DDG 55), U.S. Navy’s Spc. Jason Pastrick said that its “rust was quickly removed and the ship repainted” after its October 12, 2020 return to home port at Naval Station Norfolk, illustrating the U.S. Navy’s never-ending battle against the elements of the weather and the salty sea.
