Our Newest Combat Ship Towed To Port

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 19:32:19 -0500

Our newest combat ship the Milwaukee has had to be towed back to port in an effort to protect it's engine.

The news story says that metal shavings were found in the oil pan. This is really bad news as it could mean a serious time delay in the future operations of the ship. A very serious set back in this ship's operations could result, depending on the amount of damage.

http://www.wyff4.com/national/navys-new-ship-needs-a-tow/36946348

Navy's new ship needs a tow

The Navy's newest ship, the combat ship Milwaukee, broke down on Friday and had to to be towed to a base in Virginia, the Navy Times reports. The ship was commissioned last month in Milwaukee and was on its way to its home port of San Diego. The long...

Response by Capt Richard I P. made Dec 13 at 2015 7:36 PM

Capt Richard I P. — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 19:36:54 -0500

Good, trials are meant to find problems like this.

Response by SN Greg Wright made Dec 13 at 2015 7:37 PM

SN Greg Wright — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 19:37:43 -0500

CPT Private RallyPoint Member I've never been a fan of the LCS class, and this doesn't help any.

Goes to illustrate my point (in another thread) that Navy ships are not immune to Bad Things happening, though.

Response by SGT Jerrold Pesz made Dec 13 at 2015 7:43 PM

SGT Jerrold Pesz — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 19:43:32 -0500

Better there than hundreds of miles out to sea.

Response by CPO Jim Wingate made Dec 13 at 2015 8:44 PM

CPO Jim Wingate — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 20:44:16 -0500

ugh, thats bad but in the reduction gear oil would have been worse!

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Dec 13 at 2015 9:00 PM

CAPT Kevin B. — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 21:00:09 -0500

That's why you do shakedowns. Problem is sometimes the real shakedown is far away. Case in point is in the late '70s, the Polar Star was a new CG icebreaker. It came down to Antarctica only to get high and dry on 8 foot ice when the specs say 14 feet is doable. Problem was the main shaft journals weren't strong enough for the torque as strain gauges everywhere were reporting. They didn't want to damage the shafts so reduced Max available power. So I got to load up my tracked vehicle and demonstrate some neat explosive ice cutting techniques to cut them loose. Got free drinks that weekend. A structural fix at the yard and concurrent update to the Polar Sea which was coming on line, and all's well.

Response by MSgt Curtis Ellis made Dec 13 at 2015 10:45 PM

MSgt Curtis Ellis — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 22:45:41 -0500

Even on good days, bad things happen, and vise versa... Hopefully they will figure out what's wrong, get it fixed and get it back out there...

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Dec 14 at 2015 4:51 AM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 04:51:25 -0500

No Broom on the Mast (Sign of a successful shake down, a Clean Sweep) when she pull back into port. Like CAPT Kevin Ball, PE says that is why we do Shakedown Cruises and I would think with a whole new design that shouldn't be too surprising. What works on the Drawing Board doesn't always work so good in Practice. Sorry to hear of it's failure and hopefully there is a good resolution that doesn't involve scrapping such a large investment.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 9 at 2016 2:41 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 14:41:23 -0500

You always hope to find the faults during a shake down cruise. Place the ship in the most worst conditions, make the engines scream, and make the crew poop themselves.