The Littoral Combat Ship USS Montgomery (LCS-8) suffered damage during a transit through the Panama Canal on its way to its new homeport in San Diego, Calif., USNI News has learned.
Montgomery, was crossing from the Atlantic to the Pacific when the LCS collided with one of the walls of the lock and suffered damage to the hull on Oct. 29, Cmdr. Ryan Perry with U.S. 3rd Fleet told USNI News on Monday.
“Under control of the local Panama Canal Pilot, the ship impacted the center lock wall and sustained an 18-inch-long crack between her port quarter and transom plates,” Perry said.
“The crack is located 8-10 feet above the waterline and poses no water intrusion or stability risk.”
The ship is now on the Pacific side of the canal heading to its new homeport.
Damage through the canal transit is the third incident to occur to Montgomery since the ship commissioned in September.
Days after its commissioning, the Austal USA-built Montgomery suffered two separate engineering casualties on Sept. 13 on its first intended transit of the Panama Canal.
“The first casualty happened when the crew detected a seawater leak in the hydraulic cooling system. Later that day, Montgomery experienced a casualty to one of its gas turbine engines,” read a September statement.
Then on Oct. 4, when the ship was scrambling from Naval Station Mayport, Fla. to avoid the path of Hurricane Matthew, the ship “took a hard knock from a tug,” according to a report in Navy Times.
The following is the complete Oct. 31, 2016 statement from U.S. 3rd Fleet
On Oct. 29 USS Montgomery (LCS-8) sustained damage to her hull while transiting Southbound through the Gatun and Pedro Miguel locks of the Panama Canal. Under control of the local Panama Canal Pilot, the ship impacted the center lock wall and sustained an 18-inch-long crack between her port quarter and transom plates. The crack is located 8-10 feet above the waterline and poses no water intrusion or stability risk.
The ship has continued her transit as scheduled, has now exited the Panama Canal and is expected to arrive at her new homeport of San Diego next month.
On ships things happen that are not predictable. These navy ships are run by some pretty inexperienced young folks who train and train and train for emergencies. The officers depend on the enlisted to do exactly the right things. As the ship made it through the locks and no one is killed, this was a success of sorts. Naval propulsion has come a long way in the last 40 years. I learned on these ships and went on to working on merchant ships. My heart goes out to these guys because I know someone is going to pay for the damages with their skin.