Relief on way for stranded LCS crew

The crew of the USS Coronado (LCS 4) deployed in June 2016 for Singapore on a nine month deployment. One week into spring 2017, Crew 204 is going to finally get relief from Crew 203, which is enroute to Singapore. Over the past months, Crew 203 has been working up in an LCS simulator. The underway portion of their pre-deployment training was delayed because all available trimaran (Independence Class) hulls were in maintenance. But as training delays mounted, family members of deployed Crew 204, who spoke to Navy Times, said the sailors had become demoralized. Crew 203 departed Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., on March 28, allowing Crew 204 to head back to San Diego by mid-April. LCS 4’s Crew 204 was stuck in December and again in February. Part of the delay in getting 203 to Singapore was reorganizing the program and shifting training standards after several LCS mechanical failures, some of caused by crew errors. Failures on two Freedom Class LCS, in which crew members caused breakdowns, prompted Navy leadership to change how LCS conducts business. (Source: Navy Times 03/28/17) Gulf Coast Note: The Independence Class of LCS are built at Austal USA in Mobile, Ala. The Freedom Class is built in Wisconsin.