News/Commentary

Sabotage shocker: Shipbuilding company suspects faulty welds were done intentionally on US Navy subs

September 27, 2024 | | Print Article

An East Coast shipbuilder has discovered faulty welds that may have been made intentionally on several U.S. Navy submarines and aircraft carriers.

The shipbuilder, Newport News Shipbuilding, is a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and, more importantly, “the sole maker of carriers for the Navy and one of only two firms that make submarines,” according to Stars and Stripes.

In a report submitted this week to the Navy and Department of Justice, Huntington Ingalls warned that faulty welds — some of which may have been made intentionally — were found “on noncritical components on in-service subs and carriers.”

“The report cited a memo from Nickolas Guertin, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development, and acquisition, to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti,” Stars and Stripes notes.

The memo “said welders did not follow proper methods in welding certain joints, and it appeared that the faulty work was done intentionally.”

In a statement made to USNI News, Newport News confirmed that welds were discovered that didn’t meet its 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,” the statement reads.

“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 statement continues.

The Navy meanwhile released its own statement acknowledging that it’s investigating the matter.

“The Navy is aware of the issue and a thorough evaluation is underway to determine the scope,” the statement reads. “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.”

Responding to this story, social media users speculated that this may be the result of purposeful “sabotage” and argued that if true, the perpetrators deserve the worst punishment.

Some also wondered if DEI was responsible.

Look:

This comes as shipyards across the nation have been dealing with a worker shortage that was especially pronounced during the COVID pandemic.

“With a booming economy and low unemployment, private shipyards across the nation are facing a continuing labor shortage,” Virginia station WVEC reported just last month. “As a result, the delivery of warships to the Navy is in some cases years behind schedule.”

“A comprehensive review examining national and local causes of the challenges to shipbuilding, ordered by [Secretary of the Navy Carlos] Del Toro and released in April, found that five classes of warships are now running anywhere from one to three years behind schedule,” the station added.

Vivek Saxena
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