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Propeller blade incident leads to carrier recall
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| 22 November 2000 |
J A C Lewis JDW Correspondent
Paris
French naval authorities fear the new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle will be unable to join France's fleet until next spring. This follows an incident that forced it to break off its first long-distance trials in the North Atlantic and return to port on 9 November.
The French Navy announced that a blade on one of the aircraft carrier's two propellers broke off when the 40,000-ton vessel was making its way from Guadeloupe in the French West Indies to the US naval base at Norfolk, Virginia at 25kts. Senior naval officials decided to recall it to port at a reduced speed of 14 kts on a single propeller. The vessel is scheduled to reach Toulon on 25 November.
The break occurred in the vessel's port propeller, which weighs 19 tons and measures 5.8m in diameter. Divers were unable to recover the missing blade.
The propeller's blades were specially designed to keep noise to a minimum. The vessel's starboard propeller was not affected by the incident.
Officials said the carrier would need to be put into dry dock for a detailed examination of the metal in its four-blade propellers.
"Unfortunately, the incident is not due to an accident but rather to a defect in the metal or in the design of the screws," a navy spokesman said.
Charles de Gaulle could be laid up for three months. The carrier had been due to officially enter service on 23 December 2000 after completing a six-week blue water trial.
The breakdown, which is the latest in a long line of complications that have beset the Charles de Gaulle since it began sea trials in February 1999, is expected to greatly increase the overall cost of Charles de Gaulle, Europe's only nuclear-powered carrier. The bill currently stands at around Ffr20 billion ($2.7 billion), including Ffr500 million for modifications and repairs to resolve problems that occurred during earlier trials this year.
Among the modifications was a 4.5m extension of the carrier's angled flight deck because the initial design was found to be too short to accommodate the Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye early warning aircraft deployed aboard Charles de Gaulle in certain combat situations.