How Embarrassing?

[Footslogger]

For those who read this article, I hope you get a good chuckle.

I wonder what will happen when this ship gets into port?

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/this-i ... &ocid=iehp

[btd64]

I guess they will take it to jiffy lube.[:D]....GP

[Anachro]

There's something to be said for (at least my perception) ROI per dollar spent in military spending, funding, R&D.. The F-35 comes to mind, this, etc..

[Lokasenna]

I mean, it's a little embarrassing, but isn't it more likely for this sort of thing to occur when a ship is brand new than after it's been in service for a while? Contractor error and whatnot. Sounds like a small part broke apart in the engine, or somebody dropped a bolt in there, or something. I get that there are redundant systems, but was there for this one?

So yeah, embarrassing, but accidents happen. This one's at least understandable.

[witpqs]

I guess, but they also say 21 days after commissioning - isn't commissioning quite a while after launch and all kinds of trials?

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

I guess, but they also say 21 days after commissioning - isn't commissioning quite a while after launch and all kinds of trials?

I mean it's quite a while after launch, but I'm unsure how much sailing around they do between launch and commissioning. Sea trials are after commissioning, right? Isn't this exactly the sort of thing sea trials are supposed to turn up?

[KenchiSulla]

It happens. Would it be such a big fuss if it happened during commissioning?

When is a ship or system fully redundant? In the case of a ship you need to build a second ship....

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: witpqs

I guess, but they also say 21 days after commissioning - isn't commissioning quite a while after launch and all kinds of trials?

I mean it's quite a while after launch, but I'm unsure how much sailing around they do between launch and commissioning. Sea trials are after commissioning, right? Isn't this exactly the sort of thing sea trials are supposed to turn up?

I don't recall what I've read (in terms of trials before or after commissioning), don't even know if it would be the same now, and certainly have no first hand knowledge of it. I do recall reading in Battleship at War that BB Washington went back for some alteration work that was the result of her design. But I don't recall if it was before or after actual commissioning. It was definitely before any notion of a deployment.

[wdolson]

I note the article says "ability to remove underwater mines and take on swarm attacks of small craft in coastal waters and fight rival battleships in the open seas". I want to see the fan boy scream when they lose a BB to an LCS. [:D]

The Zumwalt made the news. While undergoing sea trials late last week the Coast Guard put out an alert for all ships in the area that they were trying to get someone having a heart attack off a fishing boat and they were having problems. The Zumwalt's boat picked up the victim, took him back to the ship, and they air lifted him from the helicopter deck of the Zumwalt. Though the Coast guard helicopter didn't land. I guess the pilot had never landed on a ship before and wasn't convinced he could land on a rolling deck.

Bill

[crsutton]

They will sort it out. The concept makes sense.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

They will sort it out. The concept makes sense.

I agree. They'll iron out the kinks in the module stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them don't work too well, however...

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

I guess, but they also say 21 days after commissioning - isn't commissioning quite a while after launch and all kinds of trials?

Normally it's keel-laying, launching/christening, fitting out, builder's sea trials, acceptance sea trials, Board of Survey and Inspection sign-off, commissioning, post-commissioning touch-ups, work up for first deployment. With some variation depending on construction method.

This article, to be kind, was not written by anyone with the merest knowledge of naval engineering. To source John McCain as your key quote? Please.

Metal in lube oil is Very Bad, but it might have slowly migrated past bottlenecks in the system and not been enough to fail the trials, finally lodging somewhere that caused propulsion to fail. There would be lab tests of oil samples all the way through trials, but depending on design they might have been fine until they catastrophically weren't. There is also always the possibility of sabotage, something NCIS would be looking at if it's suspected.

The engineers at the building yard will be burning the midnight oil to analyze just what metal this is, where it came from, and why the ship passed trials. I suspect they'll find design defects in auxiliary gear somewhere outside the main propulsion train, but again, it depends on the tasks this lube oil system is given in that class.

[geofflambert]

What if we're actually pieces in an Outer Limits episode and the Milwaukee has just received one hit in the game Battleship?

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

I mean, it's a little embarrassing, but isn't it more likely for this sort of thing to occur when a ship is brand new than after it's been in service for a while? Contractor error and whatnot. Sounds like a small part broke apart in the engine, or somebody dropped a bolt in there, or something. I get that there are redundant systems, but was there for this one?

So yeah, embarrassing, but accidents happen. This one's at least understandable.

Could even be something as simple as gears etc milled outside of tolerance. That would make a mess of metal shavings to deal with. Exactly like what can happen with a car engine.

[robinsa]

"fine metal debris collected in the lube oil filter," .. Sounds expensive to fix. Hopefully they have noticed something in time (or the filters caught it in time). Otherwise my guess is that the engine could be totaled.

[m10bob]

Before WWII the American taxpayer was really upset with an aircraft project that seemed doomed to be a real money pit.
Crashes and mishaps galore, but the army insisted on sticking with it to "iron out the bugs."
It took them from 1935 till just before Pearl Harbor to get most of the "kinks" worked out of the Boeing B 17...[:D]

[decaro]

ORIGINAL: m10bob

Before WWII the American taxpayer was really upset with an aircraft project that seemed doomed to be a real money pit.
Crashes and mishaps galore, but the army insisted on sticking with it to "iron out the bugs."
It took them from 1935 till just before Pearl Harbor to get most of the "kinks" worked out of the Boeing B 17...[:D]

The "fix" for all those B-17 "kinks" was a P-51 Mustang.