Overhauled San Antonio deemed fit for duty

NORFOLK

The skipper of the Navy’s problem-plagued amphibious warship San Antonio pronounced it fit for deployment Thursday after 10 days of sea trials.

The ship still faces a second phase of trials next month to test its combat systems, but the first phase was arguably the more crucial because it focused on the San Antonio’s propulsion system.

The first-in-its-class, 700-foot-long amphibious transport dock has been hobbled by a string of major engine defects. In its six-year life, it has deployed only once – a 2008-09 cruise that was interrupted by a weeks-long stop in Bahrain for emergency engine repairs.

Two years later, after a complete overhaul, the four diesel engines were “purring like kittens” during the tests 80 miles off the Atlantic coast, Cmdr. Thomas Kait told reporters aboard the San Antonio after it tied up pierside at Norfolk Naval Station.

“We’re getting back to where we ought to be,” Kait said. “We’ve got a checkered past, but I think we’ve overcome that.”

Kait said the sea trials included 70 hours of tests on each engine, including full-speed operations in excess of 22 knots, all of them successful.

It appears all of the ship’s major defects have been identified and fixed, he said: “We have a clean bill of health.”

In addition to the engines, the first phase of sea trials included successful tests of the San Antonio’s steering, electrical, navigation and damage-control systems, Kait said.

The ship’s problems have had widespread ramifications.

In April, the Navy suspended the oversight authority of Norfolk Ship Support Activity, the local command responsible for supervising ship repairs done by private contractors – essentially saying it no longer trusts the command to make sure work by contractors is being done properly. The command’s civilian executive director also was replaced.

Earlier this month, the Navy terminated a five-year maintenance contract with Earl Industries LLC, the local shipyard that overhauled the San Antonio’s engines, for work on the San Antonio class of amphibious ships.

There was no indication the latest repairs weren’t done properly, the Navy said, but recent audits had uncovered problems with documents related to the ship’s overhaul.

The San Antonio was built at Northrop Grumman Corp.’s shipyard in Avondale, La.

The primary function of an amphibious transport dock is to deliver Marines for beachfront assaults.

“I think we are ready to do that,” Kait said. “We look forward to going out again and driving this ship like it was meant to be.”

Bill Sizemore, (757) 446-2276, bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com