The U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ship USS Milwaukee didn’t last long on the seas before its first problem.
The breakdown occurred while the ship was traveling from Halifax, Canada, to Mayport, Fla., with a final trip planned to its home port in San Diego.
- RELATED VIDEO: Littoral Combat Ship USS Milwaukee Hits Full Speed
After suffering an “engineering casualty” the USS Milwaukee “had to be towed more than 40 nautical miles to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, Virginia,” the Navy Times reported:
Advertisement — Continue Reading Below
Initial indications are that fine metal debris collected in the lube oil filter caused the system to shut down, according to a Navy statement provided to Navy Times. The cause of the metal debris in the lube oil system is not known and assessments are ongoing.
… Problems with the propulsion plant began almost as soon as Milwaukee got underway from Halifax. The ship’s computer system triggered an alarm and the ship called away an engineering casualty.
Engineers cleaned out the metal filings from the lube oil filter and locked the port shaft as a precaution. In the early hours of Friday morning, the ship was conducting steering tests and lost lube oil pressure in the starboard combining gear due to the presence of the same metal filings in that filter.
Advertisement — Continue Reading Below
For more information on the USS Milwaukee, please visit NavyTimes.com
