U.S. Boats Delayed Because Of Many Manufacturing Defects

strategy page ^ | 09-06-09 | staff

[em2vn]

A manufacturing problem with the U.S. Navy's new Virginia class SSNs (nuclear attack subs) has delayed the commissioning of a new boat, the USS New Mexico. The ceremony will be delayed from November 21st, to sometime in January or February. The problem has to do with bolts that were not manufactured to specifications. These bolts hold together the track system that is used to move torpedoes and other weapons around the "weapons room". The poorly manufactured bolts will hold the tracks together under peacetime conditions. But in the stress of combat (like depth charges or violent maneuvers) they are likely to fail. The navy not only wants to get the proper bolts, but also is inspecting hundreds of other bolts in the weapons room, and perhaps other items as well. This anxiety is because the bolt situation is not the first manufacturing problem the Virginias have encountered lately.

[em2vn]

Wait until you get to the part about the welds.

[raybbr]

Let's all sing together...

"Look for the Union label..."

[btcusn]

Who made the bolts?
Not listed in the article.
Jack

[edcoil]

Does not say were made - is this EB’s shipyard?

[MediaMole]

More like “Look for the substandard Chinese steel...”

[The FIGHTIN Illini]

Could they perhaps be of Chinese origin? Maybe they were manufactured to “hold” during peacetime maneuvers but fail (by manufacturing design) during wartime action. Things that make you go hmmmmm.

[Dick Bachert]

Actually, the new subs are the LEAST of the navy's problems.

Armed with a single MA-2 .50 caliber Browning, this much feared naval vessel carries up to 30 rounds of armor piercing ammunition. It is the first in an entirely new naval architecture class -- technically, “clitoral” (not to be confused with “littoral”) -- being pushed on the Pentagon by the defense minded wussies in the Obama Administration as a cost-saving measure. If you look closely, you can see the heavy-duty seat restraint which prevents the pilot/gunner – Kamakazi Kowalski – from leaping from the vessel prior to engaging the enemy. The 12 V trolling motor – which lacks a reverse function -- propels this sophisticated craft forward at a top speed of 4 knots. Reverse travel – at approximately 35 knots -- is achieved by firing the Browning.

The no-bid contract to build 200 of these fearsome warships was recently awarded to Obama-Soros-Emanuel Shipbuilding and Stormdoor Manufacturing (formerly General Dynamics) and will be administered by trusted Obama associate and Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel who commented that, at $12 million each, they are a bargain. They will be constructed exclusively at the company’s facility in Kenya with major subcomponent production (rivets and miscellaneous fasteners) at the company’s Harlem and Skokie plants. Delivery is expected to begin in 2024 (or as soon as the subcontractor's funds are safely in the contractor's Swiss account).

[US Navy Vet]

You can trace alot of this stuff back the Bush (41) when HE and the DoD (Cheney) allowed MASSIVE Defense Industry consolidations it allowed for MASSIVE Defense Corp to exist(Northop-Grumman, Lockheed-Martin and the like).

[Erasmus]

His reverse propulsion system is more powerful than his forward one.

[A.Hun]

The problem here is shoddy work...not the size of the contractor.

I agree with raybbr....look for the Union Made label.

[US Navy Vet]

YEP!

[mkjessup]

From the article:

"This is all about quality control, or, rather, that lack of same. It all began when a weld inspector at the Newport News shipyard was found to be falsifying the inspection of welding jobs on four Virginia class submarines and a Nimitz class carrier. Some 10,000 welds had to be re-inspected, as these are how many the now dismissed inspector handled in four years on the job. Each Virginia class sub has about 300,000 welds that have to be inspected. Normally, only a few will fail inspection and have to be redone."

Now as I see it, that little bastard of an 'inspector' should have been convicted of sabotage, lined up against a wall, and drilled for ventilation.

[_Jim]

allowed MASSIVE Defense Industry consolidations it allowed for MASSIVE Defense Corp to exist(Northop-Grumman, Lockheed-Martin and the like).

How does this translate to non-conforming material/weak bolts used on a contract that specified otherwise on prints, drawings, etc?

One case example would help your case (the prosecution should _not_ be giving hints to the defense).

[USNBandit]

One of the newest amphib out of the yards is a piece of crap, too. In another time, producing bad weapons for the military during wartime would have grave consequences.

[papasmurf]

“It all began when a weld inspector at the Newport News shipyard was discovered involved in bribery to create false inspection reports...”

[US Navy Vet]

Smaller Companies are easier to keep track of.

[SC Swamp Fox]

It all began when a weld inspector at the Newport News shipyard was found to be falsifying the inspection of welding jobs on four Virginia class submarines and a Nimitz class carrier. Some 10,000 welds had to be re-inspected,....

Treason.

[papasmurf]

Maybe Chinese. Still, each bolt, nut, et al, must pass the Navy and the Shipyard’s inspection process before being used.

Corruption, the hallmark of union workers.

[Dick Bachert]

That, my perceptive friend, was the entire idea — and a metaphor for America under the Obozo regime: FULL SPEED ASTERN!!!

[A.Hun]

I don’t understand how any self respecting American, union or not, could put so many other men’s lives in jeopardy...

Our nation is sick, and I’m afraid the cure will be bitter indeed.