Damage Extensive for Crippled U.S. Littoral Ship in Singapore
- Navy's weapons buyer says service assessing damage to vessel
- Navy secretary praises ship's `terrific deployment' anyway
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The USS Fort Worth, the third Littoral Combat Ship deployed by the U.S. Navy, suffered “extensive damage” during the botched maintenance procedure in January that’s left the crippled vessel sidelined in Singapore ever since, according to the service’s top weapons buyer.
A Navy team has been examining the vessel built by Lockheed Martin Corp. since the January 12 incident, when gears that propel the ship were damaged, Assistant Navy Secretary Sean Stackley said in Washington. An investigation is continuing into the failure that’s thought to have been caused by crew error rather than a design flaw.