The USS Fort Worth, a Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-3) that experienced an “engineering problem” in January, sustained less damage than an initial assessment indicated, a U.S. Navy spokesman said July 22.

As a result, the Navy was able to fix the ship in Singapore, where the damage occurred, instead of having to wait until the ship arrived in San Diego later this summer for scheduled maintenance, said Lt. Clint Ramsden, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet. “Follow-on tests showed the system was operating normally and validated the repairs,” he added.

The USS Fort Worth sailing out of San Diego in route to Singapore. Photo: U.S. Navy
The USS Fort Worth sailing out of San Diego in route to Singapore. Photo: U.S. Navy

The damage was to the combining gears, which allow the ship to configure its gas turbines and diesel engines to provide propulsion. Making the repairs in Singapore means the ship will be able to head to San Diego using all of its engines, instead of just its gas turbine engines.

While an investigation of the incident is still under leadership review, the damage “appears to have been caused by a failure to follow established procedures during maintenance,” Ramsden said. “The Navy is conducting a comprehensive review of processes and procedures with maintenance and the training of our crews to prevent errors in procedural compliance in the future.”

Lockheed Martin [LMT] is the prime contractor for the Freedom-class LCS.