US warship breaks down – after just 20 days at sea

USS Milwaukee, had to be towed more than 40 nautical miles to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek after suffering an engineering casualty

The littoral combat ship Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) Milwaukee (LCS 5) slides into the Menominee River (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin/Released)

The US Navy's newest ship has been towed to a base in Virginia after breaking down at sea.

The Navy Times reports (http://bit.ly/1UfolwL ) that the 4360m littoral combat ship, the USS Milwaukee, had to be towed more than 40 nautical miles to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek after suffering an engineering casualty.

The ship was on its way to Mayport, Florida from Halifax, Canada.

Officials say it appears that metal debris collected in the lube oil filer, causing the system to shut down.

The USS Milwaukee was built in Marinette, Wisconsin and was commissioned in November in Milwaukee. It's now making the trek to its home base in San Diego.

Officials say they will swap crews in Virginia while the ship's system is being repaired.

Senator John McCain said: “U.S. Navy ships are built with redundant systems to enable continued operation in the event of an engineering casualty, which makes this incident very concerning.

“I expect the Navy to conduct a thorough investigation into the root causes of this failure, hold individuals accountable as appropriate, and keep the Senate Armed Services Committee informed.”