U. S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro confirmed last week that 26 Navy ships received inaccurate seams at the Huntington Ingalls Industries factory, which is located in Newport News, Virginia.
In a letter to Congress on October 3, Del Toro explained that “potential deficits with rivets on in-service and innovative design U. S. Navy ships and aircraft carriers ” were lately discovered. Del Toro noted that three in-service boats had been affected and that the boats had been identified as the USS George Washington aircraft ship and the USS Hyman G. Rickover and USS New Jersey assault ships.
Del Toro wrote, “ While I am deeply dissatisfied about this failure to uphold value on the part of the port required by deal, my best priority is ensuring the safety of our Seamen and websites and communicating openly with the Congress and the American people. The health of our Seamen and submarines is of paramount importance. ”
In his letter to Congress, Del Toro explained that he was alerted to the welder concern on September 24.
The discovery of the faulty Navy ship welds was first revealed to the public roughly two weeks ago after USNI News cited a Navy memo and reported that the Navy had been informed by Huntington Ingalls Industries ( HII ) that shipyard workers did not follow proper welding techniques on noncritical areas of the ships. At the time, USNI News reported that some of the manufacturing problems appeared to be intentional.
Del Toro’s letter to Congress comes after the House Armed Services Committee sent a letter to Del Toro threatening responses and asking for a presentation regarding the issue.
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“We want to know the scope of the problem, ” council members stated. “The health of our sailors is our top priority, and we must quickly understand any dangers associated with the inaccurate work. ”
In previous week’s letter to Congress, Del Toro emphasized that the Naval Sea Systems Command “has assessed that the seams were no elements or systems that affect send health or operations” and that the Navy had “determined the ships are safe to operate. ”
Newport News Shipbuilding President Jennifer Boykin released a post on LinkedIn next year, thanking the laborers who “did the right item and came forth by either self-reporting or calling the HII OpenLine” for their “honesty and courage. ” Boykin emphasized that the United States depends on the factory to “deliver the highest quality boats. ”
According to Military. web, Todd Corillo, a Huntington Ingalls Industries spokeswoman, said that after the reviews were filed, the firm “followed our process, took actions to connect with our customers and regulators in a timely manner and began working the problem with the Navy. ”