The guided-missile cruiser Leyte Gulf sustained three cracks to the starboard quarter of its fantail in a collision with another Navy vessel this month during what officials characterize as a minor incident.
The cracks were four to eight-inches long, and have already been repaired, U.S. Fleet Forces Command spokesman Capt. Scott Miller told Navy times on Friday.
None of the damage affected the cruiser’s structural integrity and the Leyte Gulf is seaworthy, he added.
But the warship remains at Naval Station Mayport in Florida as a probe into the collision continues.
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The Leyte Gulf “touched sterns’ with the Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo and ammunition vessel Robert E. Peary during a Feb. 6 underway replenishment off the coast of Georgia, officials have said.
No injuries were reported, but the Peary — which is operated by Military Sealift Command — sustained a “small-diameter hole in the ship’s hull, above the waterline,” Miller said.
The unrep mishap sidelined the Leyte Gulf from a training exercise meant to ready the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group for overseas deployment.
The Peary has returned to Hampton Roads.
Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
