LPD machinery issue could affect other ships

[unhappycamper]

LPD machinery issue could affect other ships
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jan 7, 2010 17:46:36 EST

The amphibious transport dock New York has suffered a mechanical failure and can’t get underway, Navy Times has learned. Engineers are investigating whether the ship’s problems will affect its San Antonio-class siblings, several of which have struggled since joining the fleet.

Inspectors discovered problems with the bearings on the New York’s diesel engines during an assessment while the ship was at sea, but it was able to return to its dock at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., under its own power, said Lt. Cmdr. Herb Josey, a spokesman for Naval Surface Force Atlantic.

Bearings hold a ship’s engines and vital propulsion gear in place. The broken ones aboard the New York are still under warranty and will be repaired by its builder, Northrop Grumman, Josey said.

A spokeswoman for Northrop Grumman told Navy Times she had not heard about the New York’s problems and didn’t know whether they might mean problems with earlier copies of the class.

The New York — which enjoys international fame for the 7.5 tons of steel from the wreckage of the World Trade Center built into its bow stem — was commissioned with national fanfare Nov. 7 in its namesake city. Since then it has been doing at-sea tests and inspections, including the week-long “diesel baseline assessment” that revealed its failed bearings, Josey said.


Rest of article at : http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/01/navy_lpd21_bearings_010710w/



unhappycamper comment: For $1.2 billion, I would have expected Northrop Grumman to use good bearings. Silly me.