LCS 8 suffers engine issues

On Sept. 13, the Littoral Combat Ship USS Montgomery (LCS 8), only 24 hours from transiting from Mobile, Ala., to its new home port in San Diego, experienced two unrelated engineering issues. The ship conducted a fueling stop at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and will sail to Naval Station Mayport, Fla., this coming week under its own power, for warranty repairs to a seawater leak in the hydraulic cooling system, and gas turbine engines. (Source: USNI News 09/16/16) It was the fifth LCS of both variants to have onboard issues. Austal USA of Mobile, Ala., builds the Independence variant.