Another Navy amphibious assault ship suffers a breakdown off the coast of Virginia

One of the Navy's amphibious warfare ships experienced a serious mechanical failure earlier this week, forcing the ship to return to port, at least the third such incident this year.

Lt. Commander David Carter, a spokesman for Naval Surface Force Atlantic, confirmed that the USS Iwo Jima experienced “a non-propulsion-related material failure in the machinery department” that forced the ship to return to Naval Station Norfolk on Thursday. That description could include anything from a problem with the ship's hydraulics to power generators to the potable water system.

In an email to Military.com Friday, Carter said the ship was at sea training for an eventual deployment, and the mishap comes just weeks after the Marine Corps began requiring more regular deployments of its Marine units serving aboard ships like the Iwo Jima.

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A ship spotter called AirAssets first discovered the problem when it used tracking websites to see several tugboats heading out into the open waters off Virginia Beach to meet the ship. Several hours later, the Iwo Jima was spotted heading back to Norfolk.

Carter declined to elaborate on what exactly was wrong with the ship, but said it was not a problem with the ship's rudder. However, in an interview with Military.com on Friday, AirAssets said the ship had difficulty maintaining its course while returning to Norfolk.

These were the same rudder problems that forced the USS Boxer to return from deployment in April, just ten days after she left port.

In March, a very similar series of events occurred with the USS Wasp, the same class of ship as the Iwo Jima and in the same waters off Virginia.

The same ship observer noticed that the Wasp was having problems and was abruptly returning to port. The observer's report stated that the ship's propeller shaft was damaged.

When asked about the March incident, Carter said the ship had “discovered a technical irregularity” that forced it to return to port, but he could neither confirm nor deny a wave problem.

“Warships over 30 years old will face material challenges,” Carter argued at the time, before noting that the commander of the Navy's surface fleet in the Atlantic is focused on “how we respond to those challenges.”

Wasp was finally commissioned in June, but the Navy's top officer, Admiral Lisa Franchetti, suggested in April that it may have been later than expected, telling reporters that the Navy “anticipates some possible delays with Wasp.”

Meanwhile, the Boxer finally deployed in mid-July. The delay meant that the other two ships carrying much of the Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs) had to spend months in the Pacific without the Marines, aircraft and vehicles that the Boxer was supposed to transport.

These delays and mishaps are likely to reignite the dispute between the Navy and the Marine Corps over the ability of the Navy to reliably transport Marines to sea so that they can fulfill their obligation to serve as a ready response force.

Last year, then-Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger expressed deep regret for failing to prepare Marines for deployment to the Mediterranean amid two crises: a major earthquake in Turkey and unrest in Sudan.

“In places like Turkey or in recent weeks in Sudan, I feel like I have failed the commander,” Berger told members of the House Armed Services Committee in April 2023.

Just recently, in January 2024, a three-star Marine Corps general stated that not only were the Navy's amphibious ships not ready in time to deploy Marines around the world, but there was no short-term solution to the problem.

Since then, both Franchetti and current Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith have tried to present a more unified front on the issue. But just last month, Smith released his annual planning document, in which he both stated his intention to have a MEU deployed at all times and noted that the Navy needs to do more to help the Marine Corps achieve that goal.

“My intent is for the Marine Corps to provide a continuous presence of 3.0 MEU to the Geographic Combatant Commanders,” Smith said in the planning document, before noting that “the term 3.0 refers to the continuous deployment of one MEU from the East Coast, one MEU from the West Coast, and the 31st MEU of the Forward Deployed Naval Forces (FDNF) in Japan.”

The document further stressed that its ability to achieve this goal depends largely on the Navy having enough amphibious ships to support the Marines, adding: “In the meantime, [Marines] must find creative solutions instead of perfect cures.”

Smith said he would continue to advocate for five ships stationed in Japan, noting that the U.S. Navy will likely need more resources in the coming years to “achieve the material and personnel readiness goals associated with the 3.0 MEU requirement.”

Related: After delays with the USS Boxer, the Navy's top commander ordered a thorough investigation into the operational readiness of amphibious ships

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