DoJ Notified of Suspected Faulty Welds on Subs, Aircraft Carriers at Newport News Shipbuilding - Faulty welds that may have been made intentionally. Or may be just DEI

Shipuilder Newport News Shipbuilding, Va., informed the Department of Justice of faulty welds that may have been made intentionally on non-critical components on in-service Navy submarines and aircraft carriers, USNI News has learned.

HII reported to the Navy that welds on new construction and in-service submarines and Ford-class aircraft carriers were made not following welding procedure, according to a Tuesday memo from Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition Nickolas Guertin to Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti.

Guertin told SECNAV and CNO the workers did not follow proper techniques to weld the suspect joints with an early indication that some of the welding errors were intentional. Based on the Newport News assessment of the welds, the shipyard notified the Department of Justice over the issue.

Portions of Guertin’s memo were first circulated on social media sites on Thursday.

Newport News acknowledged their internal quality assurance systems discovered production problems in a Thursday statement to USNI News

“We recently discovered through internal reporting that the quality of some welds did not meet our high-quality standards. Upon this discovery, we took immediate action to communicate with our customers and regulators, investigate, determine root cause, bound these matters and insert immediate corrective actions to prevent any recurrence of these issues,” reads the statement.
“HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding is committed to building the highest-quality aircraft carriers and submarines for the U.S. Navy. We do not tolerate any conduct that compromises our company’s values and our mission of delivering ships that safeguard our nation and its sailors.”

The Navy acknowledged the ongoing look into the scope of the welding problem in a Thursday statement to USNI News.

“The Navy is aware of the issue and a thorough evaluation is underway to determine the scope. The safety of our Sailors and our ships is of paramount importance. We are working closely with industry partners to address this situation and will provide additional information when available,” reads the statement.

The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for additional information from USNI News on Thursday on the probe into the welds.

Newport News is one of two nuclear shipyards in the U.S. The yard builds the Ford-class aircraft carriers and the bow and stern sections of the Virginia-class attack submarines and the Columbia-class nuclear ballistic missile submarines in cooperation with General Dynamics Electric Boat.

Shipbuilders across the country have been wrestling with ongoing workforce problems due in part to a green labor pool that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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An actual good boomer take in the comments. Greed and the US environmental bureaucracy did everything in its power to drive this type of industry to Asia.
Young quality individuals are not going to be interested in getting in to a career that there is basically only 1 employer you could ever work for. I know Electric Boat is also having a hard time with labor also. Doesn't help they forced a bunch of older workers out with vax bullshit. Now with commercial ship building killed off there is nothing to restock the skilled worker pool.

 

[Absolutego]

Here we are clowning on the Chinese for probably sinking a sub in the Yangtze and the American Navy is here to assure us it's not just the chinks who are incompetent at shipbuilding.

 

[Chilson]

For Kiwi's who are understandably confused. "Newport News" is a city, not a company.

 

[Bland Crumbs]

Really makes that commercial that features a woman in a hijab look amazing. Hang on lemme find it:

The first time I saw the commercial I thought it might just be protective gear but I do not think anyone else pictured wears one so....yeah.

 

[Jump]

THE PENTAGON – The House Armed Services Committee is investigating substandard welding on submarines and aircraft carriers at Newport News Shipbuilding, the committee announced on Friday.

Following a Thursday report in USNI News, lawmakers are now looking into how shipbuilders at the Virginia yard had violated proper welding procedures on work that made it into current in-service submarines. The flawed work was found by quality assurance teams at Newport News Shipbuilding, which has led to a wider investigation into welding quality that’s prompted a notification to the Department of Justice, USNI News reported.

“It is deeply concerning to learn that faulty welds may have been knowingly made to U.S. Navy submarines and aircraft carriers. The House Armed Services Committee is investigating how this occurred. The safety of our sailors is our top concern, and we need to immediately understand any risks associated with the faulty work,” reads the statement from HASC chair Rep Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), ranking member Rep Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee leaders Rep. Trent Kelly (R-Miss.) and Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.).
“The Department of Defense needs to immediately provide our committee with answers and a plan for how they will protect U.S. Navy vessels against tampering. Absolute transparency with Congress is essential.”

The Congressional query comes as the Navy and shipbuilder HII are gauging the scope of the ships that were affected overall. The number of in-service Virginia-class submarines that have been affected are in the “low single digits” and an ongoing analysis of under-construction Virginia, Columbia-class submarines and Ford-class aircraft carriers could stretch into October, a defense official told USNI News on Friday.

Earlier this year, quality assurance teams at Newport News discovered the sub-standard welds and reported the violations in procedure to both the Navy and the Department of Justice, according to a Friday statement on LinkedIn by Newport News president Jennifer Boykin.

“We recently discovered that the quality of certain welds on submarines and aircraft carriers under construction here at NNS do not meet our high-quality standards. Most concerning is that some of the welds in question were made by welders who knowingly violated weld procedures.” she wrote.
“We immediately put together a team made up of both internal and independent engineering and quality subject matter experts to determine the root causes, bound the issue and put in place immediate short-term corrective actions as we work through longer-term solutions.”

Boykin went on to say HII notified both the Navy and the Department of Justice on the sub-standard work.

In a Tuesday internal memo to senior Navy leaders, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition Nickolas Guertin said the intentional nature of the procedure violations prompted HII to call the DoJ. Parts of that memo began circulating on social media prompting accusations of purposeful sabotage of the ships by workers, which several sources told USNI News, independent of Newport News, was not accurate and that there was no evidence of malicious intent from the shipyard workers.

In a separate statement to USNI News, HII said that while the shipyard workers had violated the welding rules, they did not have “malicious intent” to damage the submarines or aircraft carriers they were working on.

“We discovered through internal reporting that some welders knowingly circumvented certain welding procedures. Based on our initial investigation, there is no indication of malicious intent,” reads the statement.
“We do not tolerate any conduct that compromises our company’s values and our mission of delivering ships that safeguard our nation and its sailors.”

Neither HII nor the Navy have said when the initial faulty work was discovered.

While the assessment of the overall welds on the ships under construction could extend into next month, the Navy and HII now have the tedious task of reinspecting the welds and determining solutions.

Twice in the 2000s, the Navy mounted separate investigations into suspicious welds into then Northrop Grumman-managed Newport News Shipbuilding. In 2007, the Navy found welders used the wrong filler material in non-nuclear pipping on Virginia submarines. In 2009, the Navy had to reinspect the welds on nine submarines and four aircraft carriers after a shipyard inspector admitted to falsifying inspection reports, according to The Virginian Pilot.

The inspections can involve analyzing welds that are difficult to reach throughout a submarine or aircraft carrier. The subsequent weld checks after the 2009 investigation took years, USNI News understands.

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Good thing everything is calm in the world. Now is a great time for a bunch of ships and subs to get knocked out of service for inspection

 

[Ibanez RG 350EX]

I know Electric Boat is also having a hard time with labor also. Doesn't help they forced a bunch of older workers out with vax bullshit. Now with commercial ship building killed off there is nothing to restock the skilled worker pool.

And while the problem may be more acute in ship building, it describes virtually every industry today. We're going to be the first civilization to fall not because of invasion or famine or disease or natural disaster, but of pure indifference.

 

[JosephStalin]

Suggest problem is more due to DEI hires than action by China/Iran/Russia.

 

[WelperHelper99]

We discovered through internal reporting that some welders knowingly circumvented certain welding procedures. Based on our initial investigation, there is no indication of malicious intent,” reads the statement.

I can tell you what that means. They're young and cutting their teeth still. A lot of welders don't even go to trade school. They start in factories or big projects like this, and make their fuckups and improvements as they go. Right now there's a lot of young ones out there right now. Raw talent with not much IRL experience. Right now the Navy wants to accelerate its ship building after years of mismanagment. This is what's going to happen. Alot. Alot of zoomers are going to be practicing on these ships. At least QC caught it, because yeah, its not malicious, they just aren't experienced.

 

[Betonhaus]

I'm currently working a contract at a nitrogen fertiliser plant that is doing a major overhaul during their shutdown, and in the first two days they fired and kicked out 19 of the welder contractors that they hired due to failing to follow documentation and other procedures. I think that there is less then 20 welders working right now so that's a sizeable drop. the pipefitters have had to pull double duty in some cases.

Perhaps there's just too many dumbass welders and the shipbuilders didn't vet and weed them out.

For Kiwi's who are understandably confused. "Newport News" is a city, not a company.

I'm just going to pretend that a news agency rules over the town and move on

 

[HyperboreanRightsActivist]

Here we are clowning on the Chinese for probably sinking a sub in the Yangtze and the American Navy is here to assure us it's not just the chinks who are incompetent at shipbuilding.

I'm just imagining some Gabonese government official buying imported Chinese ship parts that they stole from diversity hires in Portsmouth, whose ancestors were sold into slavery by his very own ancestors.

Talk about triangular!

 

[Jump]

At least QC caught it,

But QC didn't catch it in time. There are ships and subs that made it out the door. They didn't start checking everything until after it was noticed. Now they have to go out and check boats that are out there on mission.

Alot of zoomers are going to be practicing on these ships.

Ya these are aircraft carriers and nuke subs.You can't really just take a kid off the street and hand him a torch and tell him HAVE AT IT!. Well I guess that is what they where doing....

I don't know about NN but EB used to be a job you had to know someone to just get an interview.. Now Electric Boat is scrapping the bottom the barrel just trying to get guys folx to walk in the door who can pass a drug test (and are the correct color/gender of course)

Suggest problem is more due to DEI hires than action by China/Iran/Russia.

What makes you think that?

 

[Preacher ✝]

"Newport News" is a city, not a company.

I always thought it was stupid name for a city.

I'm just going to pretend that a news agency rules over the town and move on

You don't need to pretend, the media rules over the whole country.

 

[Pendulous Dong]

Here we are clowning on the Chinese for probably sinking a sub in the Yangtze and the American Navy is here to assure us it's not just the chinks who are incompetent at shipbuilding.

I guess the difference is that we caught it before it sank to the bottom of the ocean, whereas the Chinese didn't even finish building theirs before having to scrap it.

 

[WelperHelper99]

But QC didn't catch it in time. There are ships and subs that made it out the door. They didn't start checking everything until after it was noticed. Now they have to go out and check boats that are out there on mission.

A ship is massive. Most of them probably did pass. Part of the issue stems from the Navy wanting production ramped up from a industry thats been crippled since the 90s. Shit is going to happen.

Ya these are aircraft carriers and nuke subs.You can't really just take a kid off the street and hand him a torch and tell him HAVE AT IT!. Well I guess that is what they where doing....

I don't know about NN but EB used to be a job you had to know someone to just get an interview.. Now Electric Boat is scrapping the bottom the barrel just trying to get guys folx to walk in the door who can pass a drug test (and are the correct color/gender of course)

Its what they have to do. Millennials didn't become welders and go to trade school. Millennials went to college. Like it or not there was a entire generational gap between the boomers and gen xers and the zoomer welders that became tradesmen, because millenials didn't go into Welding. They are at the point of taking anyone that can hold a torch. It is that bad.

 

[Scale Smerch]

I can tell you what that means. They're young and cutting their teeth still. A lot of welders don't even go to trade school. They start in factories or big projects like this, and make their fuckups and improvements as they go. Right now there's a lot of young ones out there right now. Raw talent with not much IRL experience. Right now the Navy wants to accelerate its ship building after years of mismanagment. This is what's going to happen. Alot. Alot of zoomers are going to be practicing on these ships. At least QC caught it, because yeah, its not malicious, they just aren't experienced.

No excuse, this isn't some basic bitch tailings drainage line or industrial structure, this is strategic weaponry designed for force projection and nuclear triad. You don't hire the inexperienced or incompetent because a critical failure is likely to mean far more than a simple pipeline or reaction vessel throwing a leak. It shows more about about hiring practices and bureaucratic, DEI-fuelled red tape than anything.

 

[IAmNotAlpharius]

Suggest problem is more due to DEI hires than action by China/Iran/Russia.

DEI is no different than hiring because of corruption or due to political connections.

 

[WelperHelper99]

No excuse, this isn't some basic bitch tailings drainage line or industrial structure, this is strategic weaponry designed for force projection and nuclear triad. You don't hire the inexperienced or incompetent because a critical failure is likely to mean far more than a simple pipeline or reaction vessel throwing a leak. It shows more about about hiring practices and bureaucratic, DEI-fuelled red tape than anything.

You missed the point. I am talking about a generational issue with the stock of welders we have in the country. We don't have enough of the old boomers, they are retiring, not enough gen x'ers, Millenials... LOL non existant, that leaves you with a lot of zoomers that ditched college for trades. The navy wants more ships faster. The only way thats happening is by hiring the zoomers en masse. That has been the problem for years now. This is my industry, i know what the issue is. DEI is a fucking meme in welding, i have met more white supremacists IRL than you ever have because of my job. Its a experience issue. Plain and simple.

 

[RJ MacReady]

This is honestly very funny when I realise it allowed some manager or co-worker the once in a lifetime privilege of being able to yell "NIGGA YOU FUCKED UP SO BAD THEY BROUGHT IN THE WHOLE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE! HOW'S THAT EVEN POSSIBLE NIGGA?" at someone and literally mean it.

 

[Miller]

What makes you think that?

>Preshus
Wow, they don't even try to write their name correctly.

 

[Whiskey]

Funny how never taking on apprentices turns into no quality workpool to draw from.