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| The Navy’s newest ship breaks down, limps into port |
| 2015-12-13 |
| ABOARD THE LITTORAL COMBAT SHIP MILWAUKEE, VIRGINIA CAPES – The littoral combat ship Milwaukee, the Navy’s newest ship, broke down Dec. 11 and had to be towed more than 40 nautical miles to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, Virginia. The ship suffered an engineering casualty while transiting from Halifax, Canada, to Mayport, Florida, and ultimately its home port of San Diego. The cause is being evaluated by ship’s crew and technical consultants. Initial indications are that fine metal debris collected in the lube oil filter caused the system to shut down, according to a Navy statement provided to Navy Times. The cause of the metal debris in the lube oil system is not known and assessments are ongoing. The ship was commissioned Nov. 21 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and has been making the long trek to San Diego through the Great Lakes since. Problems with the propulsion plant began almost as soon as Milwaukee got underway from Halifax. The ship’s computer system triggered an alarm and the ship called away an engineering casualty. Engineers cleaned out the metal filings from the lube oil filter and locked the port shaft as a precaution. In the early hours of Friday morning, the ship was conducting steering tests and lost lube oil pressure in the starboard combining gear due to the presence of the same metal filings in that filter. The metal filings in the lube oil have not been a class-wide issue, according to the Navy. The ship then dropped anchor while the engineers worked on the system. By mid-morning, the salvage ship Grapple rendezvoused with Milwaukee and connected a towing hawser line for the trip back to Little Creek. The ship is currently manned by Crew 104, and was scheduled to swap with Crew 108 in Mayport. The crews will now swap in Virginia while the ship’s system is repaired. News of the breakdown reached Capitol Hill by late Friday. Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement to Navy Times that the plant issues were troubling and called for accountability. “Reporting of a complete loss of propulsion on USS Milwaukee (LCS 5) is deeply alarming, particularly given this ship was commissioned just 20 days ago,” McCain said. “U.S. Navy ships are built with redundant systems to enable continued operation in the event of an engineering casualty, which makes this incident very concerning. “I expect the Navy to conduct a thorough investigation into the root causes of this failure, hold individuals accountable as appropriate, and keep the Senate Armed Services Committee informed.” |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #12 Of course, eventually they will probably try sails again - those are definitely carbon neutral, as long as you have a favorable wind. I wouldn't be surprised to see that as a requirement coming out of Paris - at least for developed nations. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2015-12-13 22:54 |
| #11 USN, the steam powered ships (except for nukes) went away a long time ago. Yes, the turbines are gas hogs, but they don't take hours and hours to build up a head of steam to get underway. Of course, eventually they will probably try sails again - those are definitely carbon neutral, as long as you have a favorable wind. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2015-12-13 22:40 |
| #10 Turbines on a boat that size is dumb. fuel consumption and (gads!) the carbon foot print compared to bunker fuel oil. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2015-12-13 22:20 |
| #9 Engines making metal is bad Juju. At least the chip detection systems kept the turbines from blowing up. Though both engines showing chips is not good at all. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2015-12-13 21:45 |
| #8 Anti-US US OWG Globalist POTUS Obama still has 1-1-n-1/4 year to come up wid more anarchies-n-chaoses in US FP. D *** NG IT, THIS IS NO TIME FOR THE USN TO START BEING THE RUSSIAN OR INDIAN NAVIES, WHERE THE MOST IMPORTANT SHIP IN THE COMBAT TASK GROUP OR TASK FORCE IS THE FLEET SALVAGE TUG(S). |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2015-12-13 19:45 |
| #7 Anyone remember what happened to a previous USS Milwaukee? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXS2Au43f94 |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2015-12-13 16:47 |
| #6 The 2 Rolls Royce MT30 gas turbines have independent lube oil systems. A double failure points to something as simple as the wrong oil in the system or a more intentional act. |
| Posted by: Tzsenator 2015-12-13 13:09 |
| #5 Bobby, from what I've read the LCS is self-sabotaging. I think we built these in the hope that the Chinese navy would copy them. |
| Posted by: Matt 2015-12-13 12:50 |
| #4 While I like the grinding to fit theory, whaddabout sabotage? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2015-12-13 12:15 |
| #3 sounds like poorly fitting engine parts grinding themselves to size. Happens in cars with new engines fairly often. Still no excuse. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2015-12-13 08:56 |
| #2 The avoidance of the ugly expense of keeping expert contractor teams on pay while you systemically reduce the "military-industrial complex" means you limit yourself to the lowest 'qualified' bidder, who just so happens isn't half as qualified as granddad was in the 50s and 60s. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2015-12-13 08:52 |
| #1 ...Okay. On the one hand, Milwaukee is actually still in trials status, so yes, it's very bad this happened but better it happened now instead of once she was cleared for service. On the other hand, the USN BETTER be yanking a bunch of people at the yards by the neck. This is simply inexcusable. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2015-12-13 08:09 |