USS COLE (DDG 67) returns to Ingalls for restoration

December 13, 2000 -- USS COLE (DDG 67) arrived at Litton Ingalls Shipbuilding today following a six-week journey from Yemen, aboard the heavy-lift ship Blue Marlin. Ingalls, selected by the U.S. Navy to repair the Aegis destroyer, built USS COLE, which was delivered to the Navy in 1996.For the long voyage from Yemen, USS COLE literally rode aboard the 587-foot deck of the Blue Marlin. Special blocks and sea fastenings were developed on the deck to secure the ship for the trip back to the United States.

Flag-waving citizens lined Beach Boulevard in Pascagoula, nearly 100 local and national news media representatives covered the event, and Ingalls employees waved American flags and stood dockside in a somber, patriotic welcome "home" for the ship.

In announcing USS COLE's return to Ingalls, the U.S. Navy called its selection of Ingalls for this project, "the best solution for this unique and demanding situation." The Navy said Ingalls is "most able to effectively manage and complete the work in a timely fashion. Some aspects of the damage remain unknown and will present challenging engineering problems during the repair. The land-level facility at Ingalls provides greater flexibility to deal with major structural damage." Ingalls has the unique capability of placing the ship back on-land for the repair. Ingalls will remove damaged sections of the ship, fabricate huge new ship sections in other areas of the shipyard, then install the new sections aboard ship.

Ingalls performed similar repair work on the battle-damaged USS STARK (FFG 31), in 1988.

"Ingalls and all of its employees who built USS COLE regret the tragic circumstances which brought the ship back to our shipyard," said Jerry St. Pe', Chief Operating Officer of Litton Ship Systems and Executive Vice President of Litton Industries. "Today is the beginning of the first step to return USS COLE to the U.S. Navy Fleet," he said. "At the very outset of this tragedy, our employees viewed this as very personal in nature, and I believe that same attitude of personal commitment will be relevant over the next 12-15 months as we work with the U.S. Navy to get this ship back to the Fleet and allow the sailors to continue their mission. Clearly, this attack has demonstrated to all Americans that the threat to our freedom does exist. Today our mission is to get this destroyer back to the Fleet in the shortest possible time. It is a new beginning for the ship."

Litton Ingalls Shipbuilding is a division of Litton Industries (NYSE: LIT), and part of the Litton Ship Systems (LSS) group. Located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and in continuous operation since 1938, Ingalls is Mississippi's largest private employer, with nearly 11,000 employees, and an annual payroll of more than $400 million.

Ingalls will repair USS COLE in its modern 640-acre facility on the west bank of the Pascagoula River, a facility built in the late 1960s specifically for the type of modular design and construction work that the COLE project will require. In January, Ingalls will transport DDG 67 onto its floating drydock, then back onto land, where shipbuilders will remove damaged sections of the ship and replace them with new huge ship sections that will be fabricated in other areas of the shipyard. The repair project is expected to last approximately one year.

Since 1975, Ingalls has delivered 78 new, major surface warships into the U.S. Navy's fleet. Dozens of other naval combatants have returned to Ingalls over the years for modernization and overhaul-related projects. Additionally, Ingalls is a major competitor in the international marketplace, as the only U.S. company to have built surface combatants for an international Navy in recent years, as well as to have won a major international surface combatant refit and upgrade competition.

Ingalls' workforce includes an in-house engineering team experienced in the latest 3D ship design, as well as computer-aided engineering, production and life-cycle support techniques, Ingalls has been lead designer and builder of five of the U.S. Navy's newest, most advanced classes of major surface combatants, including SPRUANCE (DD 963) and KIDD (DDG 993) Class destroyers, TARAWA (LHA 1) and WASP (LHD 1) Class amphibious assault ships, and TICONDEROGA (CG 47) Class Aegis guided missile cruisers.

In its current military programs, Ingalls is building ARLEIGH BURKE (DDG 51) Class Aegis guided missile destroyers; 13 of 24 destroyers awarded to Ingalls have been delivered. Ingalls has also delivered the first six WASP (LHD 1) Class large-deck amphibious assault ships, and has two additional LHDs, IWO JIMA (LHD 7) and the yet-unnamed LHD 8 under contract.

Ingalls is also currently building the first oceangoing cruise ships produced in the U.S. since the 1950s.

Litton Ship Systems (LSS), headquartered in Pascagoula, also includes the Litton Ship Systems Full Service Center in Pascagoula, as well as Litton Avondale Industries, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. LSS, which currently employs nearly 17,000 shipbuilding professionals, primarily in Mississippi and Louisiana, is one of the nation's leading full service systems companies for the design, engineering, construction, and life cycle support of major surface ships for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and international navies, and for commercial vessels of all types. LSS has a firm business backlog exceeding $5.5 billion, in a variety of naval and commercial shipbuilding programs.

Litton Industries is also a leading information technology (IT) contractor to the U.S. government and provides specialized IT services to commercial and government customers in local and international jurisdictions. Litton provides defense and commercial electronics technology, components, and materials for customers worldwide. Headquartered in Woodland Hills, California, the company has more than 40,000 employees.