SAN DIEGO, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy has ordered an engineering stand down for LCS crews following an engineering casualty on the littoral combat ship USS Freedom, the sea service announced Monday.
The stand down will involve every LCS crew reviewing procedures and standards for their engineering departments, the Naval Surface Force said in a statement.
All stand downs have been completed as of Aug. 31.
"These stand downs allowed for time to review, evaluate and renew our commitment to ensuring our crews are fully prepared to operate these ships safely," Commander, Naval Surface Forces, Vice Adm. Tom Rowden said.
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Rowden has also called for the retraining of each LCS sailor involved in on-ship engineering.
That training will take place over the next month and will allow leadership to review existing training programs to determine if other changes are needed.
Freedom, the Navy's first LCS, experienced a casualty to one of its main propulsion diesel engines on July 11, which was caused by a leak from the attached seawater pump mechanical seal that resulted in seawater entering the engine lube oil system, the Navy said in an. Aug. 28 statement.
On Aug. 29, the USS Coronado experienced a casualty to one of its flexible couplings assemblies.
That ship returned to Pearl Harbor over the weekend.
The renewed engineering training announced Monday by the Navy will involve developing a level-of-knowledge test and specialized training for the LCS engineering force.
A comprehensive engineering review is also underway, a process that could take up to two months.
"From there, more adjustments may be made to the engineering training pipeline," the Navy said.
