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Navy’s latest ship makes it 50ft into the water before hitting something

Cleveland’s sister ship USS Freedom (LCS-1)

The US Navy, who has made it something of a pastime recently to run into things while sailing the seven seas, has had an eminently foreseeable collision with one of their newest (not even commissioned yet) warship. The future-USS Cleveland (LCS-31) made it about three seconds into its first dip in the drink before hitting another vessel. In this case a tugboat.

I’m not sure how it happened, and I’m no expert on nautical operations, but it did seem like the tug was a wee bit too close to the big ass ship about to do a sideways cannonball into the Menominee River. Here’s the video for your enjoyment, from many different angles.

Navy Times has the story. This is just the latest problem with the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS).

32 thoughts on “Navy’s latest ship makes it 50ft into the water before hitting something

    1. Attorney Daniel Bernath disagrees. He will be filing a lawsuit against the Department of The Navy as soon as Satan gives him a day pass from Hell.

  1. Love the photo of the sister ship USS Freedom and it’s camo.
    That small window, midship at deck level is probably the head.

  2. Mason wrote; “…and I’m no expert on nautical operations,…” Heh heh…neither is the Navy!

    Whole new meaning to the term “Cleveland Rocks”. Yeah it does…back and forth.

    Dumbass tug boat got real lucky there.

  3. There has been some talk from the sharp pencil crowd about transferring these to our close allies or the Coast Guard.

    If the Coast guard took it they would be among the largest ships in their fleet. The operating costs would assume about 1/6 of their entire budget. And the engines still would not work. I’m not sure what an ally would use it for, a ship that we couldn’t find a mission for either.

    They cost almost as much to run as an Arleigh Burke destroyer which is a much more capable vessel. When you think that we could have had 20 more destroyers instead of this piece of crap, The waste of resources is really frustrating.

      1. The Japanese version is better in this case:
        Too many captains run the ship up the mountain

        船頭多くして 船山に登る

    1. NAVSEA had to relearn NAVAIR’s painful lessons in requirements creep. Now we’re stuck with the things.

  4. It looked like the tugboat was under power pulling on something when the LCS got released. WTF was the tug skipper thinking?

  5. Just a dumb army guy here but it seems like someone should have been like “hey, hold off on releasing the big boat till that tug is out of the way.”

    1. I’ve seen elsewhere people are posting stuff like “big surprise — biggest pieces of shit in the fleet can’t even launch correctly.”

  6. Supposedly they never sounded the launch signal and let her rip, the tug didn’t have time to prepare the towline and move away for the main event.

    Either way if I was that deckhand I’d have shit my pants.

  7. My ship got into a collision years after I left her and another ship ran into the aircraft elevator damaging it enough where it had to be repaired or replaced. My cleaning space was the port elevator room on the 2nd deck where I had a steamer locker I kept my Pier 4 geedunk stand RC Cola locked up in. I I Brought it aboard in the shops shit can from the Diesel engine repair shop forward hanger bay.

    1. My cleaning space was the port elevator room on the 2nd deck where I had a steamer locker I kept my Pier 4 geedunk stand RC Cola locked up in. I I Brought it aboard in the shops shit can from the Diesel engine repair shop forward hanger bay.

      Please translate above into grunt, the Google Translate didn’t work.

      1. I am thinking “steamer locker” means something completely different in the Navy or else he would have ended up on the SPOTW post.

      2. Which part didn’t you get?
        *grin*
        -Cleaning space- area of upkeep.
        -Elevator room, second deck and Port elevator. Elevator machinery room location. Used to shift aircraft and gear between the hangar and the flight deck.
        -Steamer locker- I’d call it a footlocker. A metal cruise box is also a possibility. Portable personal storage.
        -Pier 4 geedunk stand- pier side store for small incidentals and snacks. Geedunk and pogey bait are interchangeable terms for soda, candy bars and the like.
        -He’s using the shop’s trash can to sneak goodies on board.
        Better?

  8. Well, at least [GAB] Navy didn’t…. (see image)

    He was ruled safe at the plate but his season’s over.

    1. Have to go to military power to taxi back to the line? You just made a wheels-up landing.

  9. LCS has rightly earned the acronym over the past 15 years.

    Let’s
    Change
    Something

    And all that change, and it still doesn’t work. They (Pentagon brass) knew it wasn’t going to work as far back as 10 years ago, but they just kept pushing them out anyways, because Admiral Moneybags is getting ready to retire and he needs that Board of Directors consulting position at Lockheed Martin.

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