Amphibious Ship Suffers Breakdown, Marking at Least Third Navy Mechanical Issue This Year

[Tony]

One of the Navy's amphibious warships suffered a major mechanical failure earlier this week that forced it to return to port -- at least the third such incident this year.

Lt. Cmdr. David Carter, a spokesman for Naval Surface Force Atlantic, confirmed that the USS Iwo Jima suffered "a non-propulsion-related materiel casualty in the engineering department" that forced the ship to return to Naval Station Norfolk on Thursday. That description could cover everything from a problem with the ship's hydraulics to power generators to potable water equipment.