USS Milwaukee towed to base as USN investigates propulsion system

摘要

The recently commissioned US Navy (USN) Littoral Combat Ship USS Milwaukee (LCS 5) is undergoing inspections after suffering a loss of propulsion during its maiden transit in the Atlantic, officials told IHS Jane's on 14 December. Milwaukee, a Freedom-variant LCS that entered service in its namesake city on 21 November, had been conducting a sail around from shipbuilder Mari-nette Marine Corp in Wisconsin to Naval Station Mayport in Florida when it lost propulsion 40 n miles off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia. The US Military Sealift Command vessel USNS Grapple (T-ARS 53) helped to tow Milwaukee to the Joint Expeditionary Base at Little Creek, Virginia, arriving there on the evening of 11 December. A USN press release stated that Milwaukee lost pressure in the starboard combining gear lube oil system, while the crew conducted routine steering checks on 10 December. The cause, the navy said, was metallic debris contamination of the filter.