§8674 Examination of Vessels; Striking of Vessels From Naval Vessel Register

Summary

The Secretary of the Navy must pick boards of naval officers to inspect Navy ships, including unfinished ones, and tell the Secretary which ships, if any, should be removed from the Naval Vessel Register. Whenever possible each ship must be checked at least once every three years. Inspections done on or after January 1, 2020, must give the crew very little advance notice, except when a ship is doing required trials before joining the fleet. The board must send its recommendations in writing. If the Secretary agrees, the ship’s name must be removed from the Register. By March 1 each year the board must brief the congressional defense committees and send a report that includes a summary of ship material readiness versus standards, the number and types of ships inspected in the preceding fiscal year, and readiness trends by inspected area for in-service ships compared to the previous five years. Reports must be submitted in both a classified form and an unclassified form that can be released to the public without further redaction.