U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Keith DeVinney/Released
The USS Independence (LCS 2), left, and USS Coronado (LCS 4) steam in the Pacific Ocean. The two are of the Independence variant LCS. Ships of this variant are 416.8 feet in length with a beam of 103.7 feet and a displacement of 3,100 metric tons.
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
U.S. Navy
The littoral combat ship USS Freedom (LCS 1) returns to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii in 2010.
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Conor Minto/Released
The USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) conducts patrols in international waters of the South China Sea near the Spratly Islands as the Chinese guided-missile frigate Yancheng follows. The Fort Worth is a Freedom variant LCS. Ships of this variant are 387.6 feet in length with a beam of 57.7 feet and a displacement of 3,400 metric tons. Click through the gallery to see more of the LCS classes.
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
MCC Sam Shavers/U.S. Navy
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus speaks in Gulfport, Mississippi, at the christening ceremony for the USS Jackson in December 2015.
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
From Lockheed Martin
The future USS Little Rock (LCS-9) was christened and launched into the Menominee River in Marinette, Wisconsin, on July 18, 2015. The Little Rock is a Freedom variant littoral combat ship.
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Conor Minto
Chief Gunner's Mate Nicholas Bokan, assigned to Surface Warfare Mission Package, Detachment 1, embarked aboard the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), rigs a caving ladder on the flight deck during a visit, board, search, and seizure training drill.
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
U.S.Navy Photo
The littoral combat ship USS Independence (LCS 2) conducts maneuvers with the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise 2014.
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Antonio P. Turretto Ramos
Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Adam Garnett, from Anchorage, Alaska, signals an AH-1 Cobra helicopter from Marine Air Group (MAG) 24 during deck landing qualification training aboard the USS Fort Worth (LCS 3). The LCSs are designed to support air operations by both helicopters and helicopter drones.
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tim D. Godbee
A rigid-hull inflatable boat prepares to enter the littoral combat ship USS Freedom (LCS 1) during training off the coast of Southern California.
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Antonio P. Turretto Ramos
Sailors assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 35 prepare an MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aircraft system for flight operations aboard the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3).
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Katarzyna Kobiljak
Sailors assigned to Surface Warfare Detachment Four of the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) Crew 102 prepare to board a naval training vessel.
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Antonio P. Turretto Ramos
Chief Fire Controlman Beth Simpson-Fuchs moves 57 mm rounds aboard the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) while in port at Changi Naval Base Singapore. The 57mm gun is part of the LCS's core ship weapons.
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Antonio Turretto
Gunner's Mate 2nd Class Andrew Thomasy and Fire Controlman 1st Class Waylon Clement, assigned to Surface Warfare Detachment 3, load high-explosive incendiary tracer rounds into the ammunition feeder-can of a 30mm weapons system aboard the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3). The 30mm guns are part of the LCS surface warfare package.
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Zachary D. Bell
A Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile is launched from the littoral combat ship USS Coronado (LCS 4) during missile testing operations off the coast of Southern California in September 2014. The missile scored a direct hit on a mobile ship target.
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Conor Minto
An MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aircraft system from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 35 performs ground turns aboard the USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) in May 2015.
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
U.S. Navy photo/Released
An aerial view of the future littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10), an Independence variant during its launch sequence in February 2015 at the Austal USA shipyard. The Navy has plans for 20 littoral combat ships.
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Daniel M. Young/Released
The littoral combat ship USS Independence (LCS 2) demonstrates its maneuvering capabilities in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. LCS crew commander John Kochendorfer described the ships as "a military jet ski with a flight deck and a gun."
Photos: Meet the littoral combat ship
Lockheed-Martin
The littoral combat ship USS Sioux City (LCS 11) is prepared for launch at the Lockheed-Martin facility in Marinette, Wisconsin.
Story highlights
USS Coronado suffers "engineering casualty" four days after leaving Hawaii
"We must get these problems fixed now," chief of naval operations says
CNN
—
Less than two days after the US Navy revealed a third mechanical breakdown in a year of one of its $360 million littoral combat ships, the service has announced a fourth.
The USS Coronado was on its way back to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, after suffering an “engineering casualty,” a Navy statement said. It said it expected to reveal more about what happened after an inspection once the ship returned to port. The ship was heading to an independent deployment in the western Pacific when the mishap occurred. It had departed Hawaii on Friday.
The Coronado was under its own power but traveling with the escort of the tanker USNS Henry J. Kaiser on the trip back to Hawaii, the statement said.
On Monday the Navy revealed that another of its littoral combat ships, the USS Freedom, suffered engine damage in July when seawater got inside the oil lubrication system, resulting in rust in the diesel engine.
Freedom’s breakdown followed mechanical failures in the USS Fort Worth and USS Milwaukee, all since December.
The Navy’s statement Tuesday said the Coronado’s problem appeared unrelated to those on the Fort Worth and Freedom.
But the Coronado’s incident means four of the six littoral combat ships in service have suffered mechanical failures in the past nine months.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
Lt. Bryce Hadley/U.S. Navy
The USS Coronado, a littoral combat ship, launches a missile Tuesday, July 19, as part of a training exercise in and around the Hawaiian Islands. There are 26 nations taking part in RIMPAC, or the Rim of the Pacific Exercise. It began in June and will end in early August.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images
An F/A-18F Super Hornet lands on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was in the Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday, July 6.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
U.S. Coast Guard
Coast Guard Seaman Amanda Wolf performs CPR on a 2-year-old girl who fell off a boat and into Lake Michigan on Thursday, July 21. Wolf successfully resuscitated the child.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Lou Pumphrey, who is with the nonprofit Veterans for Peace, walks through downtown Cleveland on Sunday, July 17, ahead of the Republican National Convention.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
Balinda O'Neal Dresel/U.S. Army/AP
Helicopters with the Alaska Army National Guard and Alaska's Division of Forestry dump water onto the McHugh Creek wildfire near Anchorage, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 20.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News/AP
U.S. sailors attend a funeral service in Fort Worth, Texas, for Dallas police officer Patrick Zamarripa on Saturday, July 16. Zamarripa was one of the five Dallas police officers killed by a gunman earlier this month.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
Kim Joon-bum/Yonhap/AP
U.S. and South Korean Marines take part in a joint military exercise in Pohang, South Korea, on Wednesday, July 6.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
Matthew Busch/Bloomberg/Getty Images
U.S. Army recruiters speak to a job-seeker during a career fair in Houston on Thursday, July 7.
U.S. Navy construction mechanic Andersen Gardner, left, and chief construction electrician Daniel Luberto remove corroded zinc anodes from an undersea cable at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii on Tuesday, July 5.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
David Guralnick/The Detroit News/AP
U.S. Army veterans Tom Brown, left, and Tom Southall learn to play bocce Sunday, July 10, during the National Veterans Golden Age Games in Detroit.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images
A member of the U.S. Air Force focuses on a simulated enemy during a training exercise in Townsville, Australia, on Wednesday, July 6.
U.S. Marines stand with the American flag prior to the start of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 12.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
Senior Airman Harry Brexel/U.S. Air Force
Air Force Master Sgt. Matthew Tabor breaks a bottle to christen an H-21B helicopter at the Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas on Thursday, July 14.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
Andy Cross/The Denver Post/Getty Images
Adam Jones, a resident of Nederland, Colorado, takes pictures as an Army helicopter collects water from the Barker Dam to fight the Cold Springs Fire on Sunday, July 10.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
U.S. President Barack Obama greets service members after speaking at Naval Station Rota in southwestern Spain on Sunday, July 10.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
Doug Strickland/Chattanooga Times Free Press/AP
U.S. Marines bow their heads during a memorial service in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Saturday, July 16. The service marked one year since four Marines and a sailor were killed by a lone gunman who shot up a military recruiting center and a local Navy operations support center.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
Kathy Kmonicek/AP
Coast Guard Cmdr. J. Andrew Ely speaks to a crowd in Shirley, New York, on Sunday, July 17. It was the 20th anniversary of the TWA Flight 800 plane crash, and Ely, who responded to the crash, shared his memories of that day.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
Ng Han Guan/AFP/Getty Images
Wu Shengli, commander of the Chinese Navy, points out the layout of the Chinese Navy headquarters as he welcomes Adm. John Richardson, the chief of U.S. naval operations, to Beijing on Monday, July 18.
Photos: U.S. military photos from July
Staff Sgt. Madelyn Brown/U.S. Air Force
After participating in the world's largest air show, three U.S. fighter jets fly back from England on Wednesday, July 13.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said in a statement Tuesday the entire LCS program had undergone a review after the first two breakdowns and recommendations from that review were to be implemented after Navy leaders were briefed.
But the Coronado and Freedom incidents would require a further look, the admiral said.
“In light of recent problems, we also recognize more immediate action needs to be taken as well,” he said.
“These ships bring needed capability to our combatant and theater commanders – we must get these problems fixed now,” Richardson said.
The Navy’s littoral combat ships come in two variants: the monohull and the trimaran, with three hulls.
The Freedom, Fort Worth and Milwaukee are monohulls. The Coronado is a trimaran.
With a draft of between 14 and 15 feet and a speed of 40 knots, the ships are designed to operate in littoral environments, or shallower coastal areas.
