About 22 months after it was involved in a heavy collision off Japan, the guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald took another step toward returning to the US fleet as a fully ready ship, as it successfully launched and moored pier-side at Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) – Ingalls Shipbuilding shipyard, on 16 April.
USS Fitzgerald collided with the container ship ‘ACX Crystal’ off Japan in June 2017, killing seven US navy sailors and opening internal discussions regarding potential training and compliance deficiencies of the US navy crews.
The launch reflects more than a year’s worth of effort in restoring and modernizing one of the US Navy’s most capable warships. Since the ship’s arrival in Pascagoula in January 2018, work has focused on restoring the integrity of the hull and topside structures that were damaged in the collision.
The complexity of this overhaul has been challenging, but our planning team at Bath Iron Works and waterfront team at HII is executing repairs and installing upgrades so that Fitzgerald returns to our Sailors lethal and mission-ready. We’re excited to have the ship back in the water where we can begin outfitting and testing efforts in support of getting the ship and crew back underway,
…said Rear Adm. Jim Downey, deputy commander for surface warfare and commander, Navy Regional Maintenance Center.
To restore the impacted spaces to full operations and functionality, various Hull, Mechanical and Electrical (HM&E), Combat System (CS) and Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C5I) repairs are being conducted.
These repairs range from partial to complete refurbishment of impacted spaces to replacement of equipment such as the radar and electronic warfare suite. The ship is also receiving HM&E, Combat System and C5I modernization upgrades.
Due to the extent and complexity of the restoration, both repair and new construction procedures are being used to accomplish the restoration and modernization efforts.
This undocking is a step forward and brings us that much closer to getting Fitzgerald back out to sea – where the ship belongs. I’m proud of this crew’s hard work over the past year and look forward returning to the fleet with enhanced warfighting capability and lethality,
…said Cmdr. Garrett Miller, Fitzgerald’s commanding officer.
