Saturday, June 18, 2011
“But I’m surprised it happened so early,”
The US Navy wants a new type of ship, the Littoral Combat Ship, of which they hope to get 55 of them in two designs. And the first ones from Lockheed developed some big cracks in the hull, always a bad idea when you are at sea. The Navy is examining that design. The second design from a different builder used a mix of alumininum and steel in the construction.
Officials were concerned about the potential for corrosion during construction of the ship because of “dissimilar metals,” particularly near the steel propulsion shafts, the Navy memo said...Well, it turns out these ships are rusting faster than a '70s Datsun in New England.
Aluminum-hulled ships such as Austal’s tend to rust faster than steel-hulled ships, Polmar said.
Temporary repairs will allow the ship to operate safely in the interim, the Navy said. The Littoral Combat Ships are designed to last about 25 years...A permanent repair next year along with a new temporary repair for the new corrosion between now and then. Once upon a time Navy ships were decommissioned because they were no longer needed or obsolete, not because they had rusted out. Bondo only goes so far.
A permanent repair of the existing corrosion damage would be conducted next year, the Navy said.
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