NEWS
Aircraft Carriers
Carrier Washington
damaged by fi re
The US Navy aircraft carrier USS George Washing-
ton sustained significant damage from a fire
that broke out on board the ship whilst at sea on
22 May.
The fire is likely to cause serious disruption to
the US Navy in the Western Pacific. The carrier and
its associated strike group had been exercising with
the Argentinean and Chilean navies in Exercise
Gaucho-Gringo, and departed Valparaíso for San
Diego on 18 May.
Four days later a fire was discovered near the Fire damage to an air conditioning and
ship’s aft air conditioning and refrigeration space refrigeration shop.
and auxiliary boiler room, while the carrier was
passing fuel to the frigate USS Crommelin (FFG 37).
The fire spread to several spaces through the ship’s Frigates
cableway and an emergency breakaway from the
frigate was conducted once smoke was detected.
Danes lay keel of
It took nearly 12 hours to extinguish the blaze
fi rst frigate
which also damaged a number of compartments
including storage spaces, a classroom and a Th e keel of Denmark’s fi rst new frigate - based on a
photography lab; one sailor was treated for common design with the Absalon class command
first-degree burns while 23 others were treated for and support ships - has been laid at Odense Steel
heat stress. A preliminary assessment concluded Shipyard (OSS).
that the fire had damaged nearly 130km of The frigates are built to the same external
electrical cabling. drawings as the Absalon class, and are 137m long
In a statement, the US Navy said: 'Navy with a displacement of some 6000tonnes.
officials have completed a comprehensive damage However, they will differ internally and will
assessment following the shipboard fire aboard have an area air defence capability with APAR and
George Washington that occurred on 22 May Smart L radars together with a 32-cell Mk 41 VLS
while at sea. The source of the fire has not yet for employment of SM2/SM6 missiles.
been determined, but the fire was located in a The first frigate will be delivered to the Defence
ventilation intake/exhaust trunk that led from the Acquisition and Logistic Organisation (FMT) in
lower decks of the ship to a ventilation port on the 2010 followed by the other two during 2011. They
ship’s outer hull several decks above. In addition are scheduled to replace the Niels Juel class frigates
to providing a ventilation path for non-critical from 2012 to 2013.
machinery components that are located below the
ship’s waterline, the trunk has numerous piping Patrol Boats
and cabling runs located within it.
Damage to USS George Washington is primarily
SWATH patrol
electrical in nature with some associated structural
boats for Latvia
and mechanical repairs required. Fire and heat
affected electrical cabling and components running Abeking & Rasmussen has secured an order for
through approximately 80 spaces of the more than fi ve 25m SWATH@A&R Patrol Boats. Th e vessels,
3800 total spaces on the carrier. for the Latvian Navy, will be designed by A&R and
The heat generated by the fire damaged a small constructed and delivered in co-operation with Riga
portion of interior structural plating which will Shipyard in Latvia.
require either repair or replacement. Piping and The new vessels will derive from the well proven
related valves that were exposed to heat from the Small Waterplane Twin Hull (SWATH) pilot boats
fire have been inspected and will require a minimal designed by A&R which have been in operation
amount of repairs. Electrical cables in the vicinity since 1999 in the German Bight and recently in
of the intake/exhaust trunk were damaged and will the Dutch Waters. They will have the same main
require repair and in some cases, replacement.' dimensions and underwater ship with a new
6 Warship Technology July/August 2008
WTJul-Aug08_p6+7+8+10+11+
12.indd 6 7/22/08 6:59:03 PM
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