Breaking news
Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado (LCS 4) Returning to Pearl Harbor Following Engine Problems.
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Naval
Forces News - USA |
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Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado (LCS 4) Returning to Pearl
Harbor Following Engine Problems |
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The
littoral combat ship USS Coronado (LCS 4) experienced an engineering
casualty today while transiting to the Western Pacific. The crew took
precautionary measures, and the ship is currently returning to Pearl
Harbor to determine the extent of the problem and conduct repairs. Coronado
is operating under her own power and is being escorted by USNS Henry
J. Kaiser (T-AO 187). |
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(File U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Austal USA/Released) |
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The
casualty appears to be unrelated to recent propulsion problems on USS
Freedom (LCS 1) and USS Fort Worth (LCS 3). The extent of repairs and any operational impact is unknown at this time. An assessment of the casualty will be completed upon return to Pearl Harbor, and additional details will be made available when possible. Coronado departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Aug. 26 to continue its independent deployment to the Western Pacific. Prior to departing Pearl Harbor the ship participated in the Rim of the Pacific 2016 exercise. On June 22, Coronado and its crew of about 70 Sailors assigned to LCS Squadron 1 deployed from their homeport of Naval Base San Diego. Statement from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson: "Last night's problem is the fourth issue in the last year. Some of these were caused by personnel, and some were due to design and engineering. These issues are all receiving our full and immediate attention, both individually and in the aggregate. To address the personnel and training issues, I established a program-wide review earlier this summer to incorporate deployment lessons learned and identify systemic problems with how the program was structured. Vice Adm. Rowden has completed the review, which recommends changes to the crewing, deployment, mission module, training and testing concepts. These changes will provide more ownership and stability, while also allowing for more forward presence. In light of recent problems, we also recognize more immediate action needs to be taken as well. The review is being briefed to leadership before implementation. I also support Vice Adm. Rowden's decision to improve oversight class-wide, which will result in the retraining and certifying of all LCS Sailors who work in engineering. "With respect to the engineering issues, we are reviewing each one and making the appropriate corrections. For instance, the software problem on USS Milwaukee has been corrected for all ships. NAVSEA and SURFOR will review this most recent problem to determine the cause, and we will respond as needed to correct it. "The entire leadership team is focused on ensuring our ships are properly designed and built, and that our Sailors have the tools and training they need to safely and effectively operate these ships. These ships bring needed capability to our combatant and theater commanders--we must get these problems fixed now." |
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| Link to LCS 2 (Independence class) technical datasheet | ||||