Wednesday, May 23, 2018

More Problems With The U.S. Navy’s Newest Aircraft Carrier

The Navy's newest aircraft carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, heads to sea May 19 from its homeport at Norfolk, Va., to conduct extended operational testing of ship's systems. The ship was forced back into port May 22 for needed adjustments to propulsion components, but is expected to return to sea soon. (Mark D. Faram/Navy Times)

Navy Times: Why the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier was forced back into port

NORFOLK, Va. ― Yet another propulsion train problem has forced the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, back into port for “adjustments” before it can get back underway to complete what had been expected to be a long testing period.

“The ship experienced a propulsion system issue associated with a recent design change, requiring a return to homeport for adjustments before resuming at sea testing,” said Colleen O’Rourke, spokeswoman for Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington.

The ship left Norfolk early May 19 for what sources tell Navy Times was to be an extended period underway, slated to be the ship’s last sea time before entering its scheduled post-shakedown availability maintenance period at Huntington Ingalls Newport News shipyard this summer.

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WNU Editor: Having a new design will always produce problems at the beginning. But in the case USS Gerald Ford .... it appears that the problems only keep on piling up.

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