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| Science & Technology |
| Faulty sub welds spur inspection of 4 carriers, 3 more subs |
| 2007-12-15 |
| Shipyard workers are inspecting the welds of seven more Navy ships — including four aircraft carriers — after faulty welds were discovered on new Virginia-class submarines built at Northrop Grumman Newport News, according to a company spokeswoman. The carriers George H.W. Bush, Carl Vinson, Enterprise and George Washington, along with Los Angeles-class attack submarines Oklahoma City, Newport News and Toledo, are being assessed for faulty welds similar to those discovered on the Virginia-class submarines built in part at Newport News, spokeswoman Jennifer Dellapenta wrote in an e-mail response to questions from Navy Times. But how many total ships will be evaluated “has not yet been determined,” she wrote. The carrier Bush is under construction at Newport News, Vinson is undergoing a refueling and overhaul at the shipyard, George Washington is in port, and the Enterprise is scheduled to return to Hampton Roads later this month from its deployment to the Middle East. She wrote that the ships are being evaluated “combining technical analysis and inspections as necessary,” in the same manner that the Virginia-class submarines were assessed. Problems with welds in non-nuclear internal piping on new Virginia-class submarines were revealed in recent news reports, but until Dellapenta’s statement on Friday, there had been no mention of the problem possibly affecting other classes of ships. “The scope of the weld problem potentially affects all hulls delivered and under construction in the Virginia class, new construction aircraft carriers and all ships repaired” by Northrop Grumman Newport News, said Lt. Cmdr. John Schofield, spokesman for the assistant Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition. Added Katie Roberts, spokeswoman for Naval Sea Systems Command: “We are still evaluating the long-term effects. The investigation is not complete yet.” The inspections and analysis of internal piping systems of the carriers and Los Angeles-class subs is expected to continue into the first six months of 2008. None of the inspections has been completed yet, she wrote. In a letter dated Tuesday to the shipyard work force, Sector President Mike Petters wrote the “welding discrepancies” have “delayed sea trials and the planned year-end delivery for North Carolina and has impacted other Virginia-class ships as well.” He said the matter is a “technical issue that has called into question the discipline of our processes.” Petters wrote in the letter that the problem stems from filler material used in non-nuclear welds and that welders had been allowed to carry several different types of filler material while welding. “This practice has been halted. Today you can only carry the filler metal you need for a single, particular type of weld joint,” Petters wrote. “We are also putting into a place a rigorous set of corrective actions that include mandatory training for each and every welder and every welding foreman.” Despite recent news reports downplaying the problem, Petters wrote that “there’s lots of work to do,” and the work force of 21,000 needs to step up. “What really matters the most to me is that we conduct our business with the highest level of integrity, continuing to work together to provide the most technically sound and highest-quality ships to our customer in support of America’s freedom,” he wrote. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #6 if they're AWS-certified, as I'm sure is req'd, they know better. Should pull all AWS cards and make every one of these lazy ignorant assholes recertify - you have to KNOW what base metal and electrode/wire to use before you start current |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-12-15 22:19 |
| #5 Eddy current NDT will pick up the difference of materials. Piece of cake ... but time consuming |
| Posted by: tzsenator 2007-12-15 21:47 |
| #4 Enterprise? Gracious. Oh, never mind. Repairs. |
| Posted by: Thomas Woof 2007-12-15 19:58 |
| #3 Watch this one get swept under the rug. It's one thing to x-ray to find welds that are poorly done, but it's much harder to retroactively figure out which ones have the wrong materials, especially on thick parts where the wrong material may be in some passes but not necessarily on the surface passes. I agree with Frank -- heads need to roll. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2007-12-15 19:39 |
| #2 unbelievable and unacceptably sloppy work. Did no-one do QA/QC weld testing? Heads need to roll, and NG needs to eat the big one on the costs for this shoddy work |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-12-15 19:24 |
| #1 You have got to be shitting me. The welders went around welding in the ship, carrying the different fillers required for the different materials being welded and just went ahead and plucked whatever filler rod was handy.. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2007-12-15 19:01 |