Navy: Check corrosion, electrical systems - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Navy: Check corrosion, electrical systems

The Navy has issued a warning to its frigate fleet about electricity and corrosion after a sailor was electrocuted in November during a port call in the Persian Gulf.

Officials stressed that the investigation isn’t finished in the death of Engineman Fireman David Mudge, who died Nov. 28 aboard the frigate Rentz, and that it would be wrong to draw conclusions about the incident from the warning. But the message said sailors have discovered “similar corrosion to other electrical enclosures” and recommends deep inspections to make sure no one else is hurt.

“It has been observed that the extent of corrosion to the cover’s top hinge was not apparent until the screws on the bottom were disengaged. Intrusive senior-level attention to these types of issues is required. Khaki leadership shall participate” in the inspections, the message said.

“This is pretty standard after a mishap — whenever details could be shared immediately to other units to prevent further injury, you do that,” said Lt. Cmdr. Chris Servello, a spokesman for Naval Surface Forces.

The early December order from Naval Sea Systems Command said for crews to double-check “all electrical enclosures such as power distribution panels, fuse panels, motor controllers, bus transfer panels, control panels, switchboards and load centers.”

Ships were ordered to report that they had made the inspections within 60 days, the message said, paying attention to “deformities,” “enclosure damage,” “chafed, frayed, brittle or charred insulation” and the “overall physical integrity of the enclosure.”

Mudge was electrocuted as he worked in auxiliary machinery space No. 2 while Rentz was in port in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, during its deployment to the 5th Fleet area of operations. Rentz, based in San Diego, is on an eight-month deployment with the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group.

Slim budgets, small crews and less hands-on training have made it harder for the surface fleet to keep in fighting shape over the past few years, and frigates especially have had their share of technical problems. Although the Navy is almost finished with classwide upgrades to the FFGs — including new diesel engines, new reverse-osmosis water-making equipment and other refinements — the frigates still struggle with corrosion, hull weakening and other problems.

Members of Congress have pressed the Navy to study how much longer it can keep the frigates. One reason is that the fleet doesn’t have the littoral combat ships with which it planned to replace its frigates, and another reason is that the presence of frigates, especially at Naval Station Mayport, Fla., is important for local economies.

In June, Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, a Republican, asked in a hearing about more service life-extension measures for the frigates, but Vice Adm. Barry McCullough, then the service’s top requirements officer, said upgrading them “would provide little return on investment.”