Monday, November 10, 2008

Navy ship San Antonio undergoing repairs

Associated Press - November 7, 2008 6:15 PM ET

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - The Navy amphibious ship San Antonio is undergoing repairs after it sprung oil leaks in its lubrication system during its first deployment.

Officials say the transport dock ship is in a Bahrain shipyard and will be sidelined for at least two weeks while engineers and workers assess and fix the problems.

A team of about 30 civilian and military personnel from Norfolk Naval Shipyard have flown to Bahrain to conduct tests and repair.

The San Antonio left Norfolk for the Middle East on its first deployment in August with the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group.

The ship is the first in the Navy's new class of Landing Platform Dock.

Information from: The Virginian-Pilot,

San Antonio class amphibious transport dock


The San Antonio class is the United States Navy's new primary class of amphibious transport dock (LPD) in the beginning of 21st century[1]. It will be replacing the older Austin-, Cleveland-, and Trenton- class LPDs as well as the Anchorage-class dock landing ships, Newport-class tank landing ships, and one class that has already been retired, the Charleston-class amphibious cargo ships[1].

Thus, the twelve planned San Antonios will replace a total of 41 ships; however the San Antonio class's funding may be reduced in 2006 as a result of suspected budget cuts, and only nine ships will likely be funded. There are currently six San Antonio-class LPDs under construction and three in commission as of April 2008; LPDs 26 through 28 are planned, but have not been awarded to a shipyard or all named[2]read more