Navy tackles design flaw affecting minesweepers

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The USS Patriot sits pierside at Sasebo Naval Base on Wednesday. The U.S. Navy said it plans to fix a design flaw on its minesweepers that sometimes causes smoldering hull fires. The Patriot has not had any fires, according to the crew.


Navy tackles design flaw affecting minesweepers
By Travis J. Tritten, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, October 12, 2008

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — Do you smell something burning?

A design flaw in U.S. Navy minesweepers, including two deployed here with the 7th Fleet, can cause exhaust flanges to ignite smoldering fires on the ships’ wood hulls, according to U.S. Naval Surface Forces.

The USS Patriot, which is homeported at Sasebo Naval Base, has been inspected and has not experienced any fires, the minesweeper’s chief engineer said last week. The condition of the USS Guardian, also at Sasebo, was unclear because the Navy did not return requests for comment by deadline Friday.

Fixing the design problem is now a high priority following a recent meeting of the Navy’s surface warfare commands in Washington, D.C., U.S. Naval Surface Forces said in a news release.

The Surface Warfare Enterprise conference in September set out a list of fleet issues that are to receive "immediate attention," including fixes for aging control systems of guided-missile frigates and corrosion-prone gun mounts for coastal patrols, the release said.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58066