Navy

Another LCS breaks down, this time in mid-Pacific

In yet another incident in what is turning out to be a bad year for the US Navy’s littoral combat ship program, the LCS Coronado is reported to have suffered a propulsion problem in mid-Pacific and has turned back to return to Hawaii. The latest issue, this time with an Independence-class LCS variant, follows a series of problems striking ships of the Freedom class. 

Sources said the Coronado is about 800 nautical miles west of Hawaii, proceeding at about ten knots. The Military Sealift Command oiler Henry J. Kaiser is accompanying the ship. About 70 sailors are aboard the LCS. 

The Coronado left Pearl Harbor Friday for the Western Pacific, where she’s to operate for at least sixteen months based from Singapore. The ship recently completed several weeks of operations with the Rim of the Pacific exercises, operating from Pearl Harbor.