NAVAL BASE SAN DIEGO–The USS Independence (LCS-2) is heading to the drydock in the first post shakedown availability of the ship (PSA) since it was commissioned more than two years ago.
The Independence, commissioned in January 2010 and the lead ship of its variant of the Littoral Combat Ship class, will be put into drydock Sept. 5 and remain there for the rest of the year to undergo a series of repairs and maintenance, Cmdr. Gerald Olin, the ship’s commanding officer, said here this week. The PSA will be done at the General Dynamics [GD] NASSCO shipyard near Naval Base San Diego.
The drydocking will include addressing a “localized” bi-metallic corrosion problem in one of the ship’s water valves caused by presence of some stainless steel on the aluminum structured ship, Olin said.
The problem had been contained by inserting zinc into the area to absorb corrosion, but the issue will be more thoroughly resolved in drydock by adding cathodic protection, a process that manipulates metallic electrons to contain and prevent corrosion, Olin said.
Subsequent ships of the variant are slated to receive cathodic protection before leaving the shipyard to prevent the problem experienced on the Independence. The second ship of the variant, the Coronado, is scheduled for delivery from builder Austal USA next year.
Lockheed Martin [LMT] and partner Marinette Marine build the LCS Freedom variant.
Both lead ships in the class grabbed headlines, the USS Freedom (LCS-1) for cracking uncovered last year that has since been repaired and the corrosion on Independence. The Navy says both issues have been resolved and attributed the problems to the vessels being the lead ships of the class.
The reports of corrosion on the Independence have been overblown, he said, and was limited to “one small area” of the ship.
“The corrosion issue is not an issue on Independence,” he said, adding that media coverage “frustrates the hell out of me.”
The Navy has been using Independence as a test platform for the mine counter measures (MCM) package, one of three swappable mission modules designed for the LCS along with surface warfare (SUW) and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) modules. When the ship leaves PSA, it will likely return to MCM evaluation operations, Olin said.