The already-scarred littoral combat ship USS Montgomery is scheduled to arrive at its home port of San Diego on Tuesday, the Navy reported Friday.
In service less the two months, the vessel struck a concrete structure last weekend as it passed through the Panama Canal and suffered an 18-inch-long gash, about 8-10 feet above the water line, according to the Navy.
The Montgomery, built in Alabama and named for the state’s capital, conducted crew training and systems checks in voyages to Florida, Cuba and other locations before transiting the canal.
During that time, however, the trimaran suffered a seawater leak in its hydraulic cooling system, a breakdown in a gas turbine engine and was hit hard by a tugboat when leaving Mayport, Florida, to get out of the path of Hurricane Matthew, the U.S. Naval Institute Press reported.
The LCS is a fast, agile vessel designed for combat in shallow, coastal waters. The program has been hit hard by numerous mechanical breakdowns.
— City News Service
