duties. The subboards consist of a captain as senior
inspector and about 10 other members, depending upon
the type of ship that is to be inspected. The president of
the INSURV board determines the procedures the
board, and any regional board or subboards will follow
to conduct trials, inspections, and surveys.
Ships are presented to the INSURV board for
builders’ trials, final contract trials, material
inspections, and surveys. A ship being inspected or
undergoing trials by INSURV is considered to be on
detached duty until the trial or inspection is completed.
INSURV Material Inspection
INSURV material inspections are conducted
according to statutory requirements of Congress. Those
statutes specify the material inspection of a U.S. Navy
ship (1) upon the ship’s return from a foreign station, (2)
at least once every 3 years (if practical), (3) when fitness
of the ship for further service is in doubt, and (4) when
the ship has been declared unfit and stricken from the
Naval Vessel Register.
OPNAVINST 5420.70 describes the organization
of an INSURV board, including the regional boards and
subboards. OPNAVINST 4730.5 establishes the policy
used to conduct an INSURV material inspection of each
active ship 4 to 6 months before the ship’s next
scheduled regular overhaul. INSURVINST 4730.8
provides detailed guidance for the preparation and
distribution of INSURV reports.
The INSURV board and the type commander agree
on the time and place for a material inspection. The
inspection starts promptly upon arrival of the board, and
the ship must be moored to a pier or dock during the
inspection so that machinery may be disabled. INSURV
material inspections are not normally scheduled during
regular overhaul or tender availabilities, and repair
work during an inspection should be kept to a
minimum.
The ship’s personnel should submit a list of work
items to the board conducting the inspection. The list
should include all known or suspected work needed to
bring the material condition of the ship to the required
standard. The list should include the following work
items:
. Departures from CNO-approved characteristics,
contract plans, or specifications
. Incomplete or unsatisfactory tests
. Alterations desired
Outstanding field changes of ship alterations
Equipment required by approved plans
Partially complete installations
Safety hazards
Repairs required
Equipment that fails to meet performance
requirements, requires excessive maintenance,
leaks excessively, is obsolete, is in excess of
actual needs, or is unreliable in operation
Work items outstanding from previous trials or
material inspections
The ship’s personnel should prepare the list of work
items according to INSURVINST 4730.5 and deliver a
set to the board when they arrive. After the material
inspection, the board members may make changes and
assign classification and identification symbols. They
will then forward copies of the corrected list, and any
items they have added, to the ship and the type
commander.
The INSURV board uses Arabic numerals and
combinations of lowercase letters to identify work
items as to reference number within the ship’s
departments such as (1, 2, 3) and the department or
division of the ship having responsibility of the item.
They use the following symbols to identify the ship’s
department or division having primary responsibility
for a work item:
nv . . . . . . . . .
op . . . . . . . . .
wp . . . . . . . . .
dk . . . . . . . . .
mp . . . . . . . .
br . . . . . . . . .
ax . . . . . . . . .
el . . . . . . . . .
dc . . . . . . . . .
sp . . . . . . . .
rp
. . . . . . . . .
md . . . . . . . .
hb . . . . . . . . .
av . . . . . . . . .
navigation department
operations department
weapons department
deck division or department
main engines division
boilers/reactor division
auxiliaries division
electrical division
repair division (damage control
and hull structure)
supply department
repair department
medical and dental departments
habitability
air department
4-11
