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Mechanical failure keeps troubled LPD at pier

NORFOLK, Va. — Hydraulic problems have delayed the maiden deployment the amphibious transport dock San Antonio, which was supposed to leave Tuesday with the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group.

The ship, which has endured lengthy delays and cost overruns, had to stay back in Norfolk due to a broken stern gate that will take days to repair, said Lt. Cmdr. Herb Josey, spokesman for Naval Surface Force Atlantic.

The amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima left the pier at 11 a.m. without San Antonio and is headed to North Carolina to onload the rest of the Camp Lejeune-based 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Capt. Brian Smith, Amphibious Squadron 4 commander, said the problem with San Antonio was discovered Sunday and he expects the new amphib — the lead ship of the LPD 17 class — to be repaired and outbound by the end of this week.

“There is nothing that will keep San Antonio from getting underway,” he said. The problem is a mechanical failure in a ram cylinder piston that controls the stern gate, he said, crucial for conducting well-deck operations, an amphib’s very reason for existence.

San Antonio’s fleet debut has been a rocky one. It underwent two scathing inspection reports and had to miss its first shot at deployment in February with the Nassau ESG.

Smith defended both San Antonio and the San Diego-based amphib New Orleans, the second ship in the class, which was deemed “degraded in her ability to sustain combat operations” by a recent Navy inspection.

“Any new ship is going to be scrutinized and discrepancies will be generated,” he said.

The remaining ships of the strike group — destroyer Ramage, cruiser Vella Gulf, destroyer Roosevelt and dock landing ship Carter Hall — will deploy through the week.

Ramage will be the first Atlantic-based destroyer to deploy with a full-up Ballistic Missile Defense capability, Smith said.

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