Damage Extensive for Crippled U.S. Littoral Ship in Singapore

[nitpicker]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/damage-extensive-for-crippled-us-littoral-ship-in-singapore/ar-BBruFye?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=DELLDHP

Damage Extensive for Crippled U.S. Littoral Ship in Singapore

Bloomberg

Tony Capaccio

5 hrs ago

The USS Fort Worth, the third Littoral Combat Ship deployed by the U.S. Navy, suffered “extensive damage” during the botched maintenance procedure in January that’s left the crippled vessel sidelined in Singapore ever since, according to the service’s top weapons buyer.

A Navy team has been examining the vessel built by Lockheed Martin Corp. since the January 12 incident, when gears that propel the ship were damaged, Assistant Navy Secretary Sean Stackley said in Washington. An investigation is continuing into the failure that’s thought to have been caused by crew error rather than a design flaw.
(snip)

While the Navy said last week that the damage to the Fort Worth led it to relieve the vessel’s commander of his post, Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Navy leaders haven’t mentioned the setback publicly or been asked about it. Instead, they have praised the program’s importance. (snip) The Fort Worth “has just had a terrific deployment to the Pacific,” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said during a House Defense Appropriations subcommittee hearing on March 1, without noting that it’s been sitting immobile in port.
(snip)

The Fort Worth’s damage was to combining gears that let the ship run on a mix of diesel and gas turbine engines. Initial indications were that the damage “appears to be caused by a failure to follow established procedures during maintenance,” according to a Jan. 21 Navy memo. “During startup of the main propulsion diesel engines, lube oil was not supplied to the ship’s combining gears.”
(snip)

[haikugal]

1. Oops!

[MADem]

2. This just sucks.

The bad news: Someone got a Relief For Cause letter.

The good news: A rare Commander/Command at Sea billet has opened up!


I do feel bad for anyone who gets caught up in that kind of thing--it's unfortunate, but the CO is ultimately responsible for everything that happens--and this was a big screw up.

https://news.usni.org/2016/03/28/uss-fort-worth-co-relieved-over-january-propulsion-casualty

[NBachers]

3. 1. What liquid is used to flush out the vehicle's lubrication system“over a long period of time?"

2. How is that liquid dealt with or disposed of?

[bemildred]

4. If "crew error" can do that much damage during "maintenance", that is a design flaw. nt