From U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs
USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) file photo. (U.S. Navy/MC2 Joe Bishop) >>
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - The littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) will make preparations to get underway from Singapore on its own power and transit to San Diego this summer. Fort Worth experienced an engineering casualty to the ship's combining gears January in Singapore that will require an extensive repair period.
Preparations are expected to take several months to complete necessary inspections, conduct lube oil system flushes and configure the engineering plant for safe operations.
The ship will use its gas turbine engines to transit from its current location in Singapore where it has been rotationally deployed since December 2014. The Pacific Ocean transit to homeport in San Diego is expected to take about six weeks with several underway replenishments and planned fueling stops along the way.
The decision to complete full repair of Fort Worth's combining gears in San Diego was based on several factors, including maintenance timelines, efficiency of repairs, and shipyard capabilities. Repairs will be conducted during Fort Worth's previously scheduled selected restricted availability with docking (SRA(d)) maintenance period, reducing the overall cost to the Navy. It has yet to be determined whether the SRA(d) duration will be extended due to the combining gear repair work.
As Fort Worth demonstrated through continuous operations in 2015, littoral combat ships provide an important capability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region and planning continues for future LCS deployments.