Posted on 03/08/2026 6:14:49 PM PDT by daniel1212
New documents show the crew on board the United States' newest aircraft carrier are growing increasingly frustrated by design flaws that lead to regular failures in the ship's toilet system.
The USS Gerald R. Ford has been deployed for seven months since it left Norfolk in June.
On board the carrier, the crew is battling a toilet system that the General Accountability Office reported in 2020 was undersized and poorly designed. The system continues to fail during deployment, forcing the crew of 4,600 sailors to live with a system that randomly breaks down during their months at sea.
NPR has obtained documents that include a series of emails that detail the ship's effort to grapple with the breakdowns. Problems with the Vacuum Collection, Holding and Transfer (VCHT) system increased in 2025. The vacuum system was adopted in part from the cruise ship industry. It uses less water, but the system used by USS Ford is more complex. Breakdowns have been reported since the $13 billion carrier first deployed in 2023....
The crew has been reaching out to the A1B Propulsion Plant Planning Yard at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia for answers, ..the only shipyard in the world that builds Ford Class aircraft carriers...
The Navy has known the system is undersized and riddled with issues for more than a decade. A similar vacuum system was installed on the last Nimitz-Class carrier USS George HW Bush. In 2013, the carrier experienced similar problems, with toilets going off line...
Without providing details, Carter said the problems with the toilets have gotten better as the deployment continues. The average outage is between half an hour and two hours and the problems have had "no operational impact," he said.
The carrier has called for help outside the ship 42 times since 2023. The rate of calls is increasing, with 32 calls happening in 2025;12 calls were made after the carrier started its recent deployment in June...
"Our sewage system is being mistreated and destroyed by Sailors on a daily basis. My HT's are currently working 19 hours a day right now trying to keep up with the demand," according to the email.
The average age on the USS Ford is similar to a college campus. For many of the sailors, this is their first extended time away from home. At times the emails almost evoke a floating dorm room, revealing that everything from t-shirts to a four-foot piece of rope have been removed from the system. The vacuum pipes are narrow. Brown paper towels and even commercial toilet paper also cause breakdowns. The most common problem is a valve at the back of the toilets that can be knocked loose and cause all of the toilets (which the Navy calls heads) in one of 10 zones to lose suction.
"FYI, if you need to use the head, go now. At 13:30, expect the system to come down for about two hours. We are looking for a vacuum leak in zone 6," reads a March 18 email from the chief engineer on USS Ford...
The most expensive problem is calcium build-ups, which clog narrow pipes, especially in the lower decks of the ship. The 2020 GAO report said the Navy spends $400,000 for an acid flush to restore the system. A document showed the ship has been acid flushed at least 10 times since 2023. The work can only be done in port. A month after USS Ford left Norfolk, the engineering department was struggling to explain the problem to leadership....
"That's just the nature of VCHT. It's a closed system and thousands of components ship-wide that fail daily. With one commode control valve failure, depending on the location brings down the entire zone," according to an Aug. 15, 2025 email from the engineering department.
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Here’s a concise list of the major recent U.S. Navy ship mishaps clearly tied to poor seamanship, navigation, or basic shiphandling, plus a note on what systemic problems they revealed. I’ll focus on roughly the last 15–20 years and leave out combat damage and off‑duty accidents.news.usni+5
USS Guardian (MCM‑5) grounding – January 2013
What happened: The Avenger‑class mine countermeasures ship grounded on Tubbataha Reef (Philippines) and was ultimately dismantled on site.
Cause: Navigational error and improper use of charts; officers failed to properly fix the ship’s position and question GPS‑based assumptions.
Significance: Classic example of poor basic navigation and bridge team management in peacetime.
USS Port Royal (CG‑73) grounding – February 2009
What happened: Ticonderoga‑class cruiser ran aground on a reef near Honolulu shortly after leaving dry dock.
Cause: Faulty navigation, poor bridge resource management, and complacency; ship was out of the water for long maintenance and crew proficiency suffered.
Significance: Early warning that readiness and seamanship were being hollowed out by maintenance/deployment pressures.
USS Fitzgerald (DDG‑62) collision – 17 June 2017
What happened: Arleigh Burke‑class destroyer collided with container ship ACX Crystal off Japan; 7 sailors killed.nytimes+2
Cause: Navy investigations described “an accumulation of smaller errors… lack of adherence to sound navigational practices”; the bridge team failed to maintain situational awareness, did not follow the Rules of the Road, and took no effective avoiding action.twz+2
Significance: Became a symbol of eroded basic seamanship, overtasking, and lapsed training certifications in forward‑deployed destroyers. GAO later testified that Fitzgerald had 15 of 22 key training certifications expired, including seamanship‑related areas.cnn+1
USS John S. McCain (DDG‑56) collision – 21 August 2017
What happened: Arleigh Burke‑class destroyer collided with tanker Alnic MC near Singapore; 10 sailors killed.news.usni+2
Cause: Confusion over steering and throttle controls, poor training on the integrated bridge system, and breakdown of watch team coordination; the Navy cited “complacency, over‑confidence, and lack of procedural compliance.”[twz]
Significance: Highlighted problems with crew training on new control systems, inadequate manning, and overworked 7th Fleet ships. GAO found multiple expired training certifications similar to Fitzgerald.news.usni+1
USS Lake Champlain (CG‑57) collision with fishing vessel – May 2017
What happened: Ticonderoga‑class cruiser struck a South Korean fishing boat in the Sea of Japan.
Cause: Failure to take early and substantial action to avoid collision; poor bridge‑to‑bridge communications.
Significance: One of several 2017 Western Pacific mishaps that together raised questions about basic watchstanding and navigational discipline.[news.usni]
USS Antietam (CG‑54) grounding – January 2017
What happened: Cruiser ran aground and spilled oil in Tokyo Bay while adjusting anchor position.
Cause: Poor shiphandling and planning during anchoring; insufficient appreciation of local conditions.
Significance: Another 7th Fleet incident pointing to degraded seamanship and risk assessment.twz+1
USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD‑6) fire – July 2020
What happened: Wasp‑class amphibious assault ship suffered a catastrophic fire while pierside in San Diego and was ultimately written off and scrapped.
Cause: Arson by a disgruntled sailor combined with severe failures in firefighting readiness, maintenance, and safety culture—inoperable sprinklers, poor training, disorganized response.
Significance: Not seamanship per se, but a major “own‑goal” loss of a capital ship that underscored rot in basic damage‑control readiness.
USS Hartford (SSN‑768) & USS New Orleans (LPD‑18) collision – March 2009
What happened: Los Angeles‑class submarine Hartford collided with amphibious ship New Orleans in the Strait of Hormuz; both damaged.
Cause: Lapses in submarine bridge and control‑room watchstanding; crew fatigue and poor situational awareness.
Significance: Showed similar cultural/discipline issues in the submarine force’s navigation and watchstanding.
These, plus older cases (e.g., collisions in the 1990s and early 2000s), fed into a narrative that basic seamanship and navigation proficiency had been allowed to atrophy in favor of high‑end warfighting and constant deployment tempo.nytimes+3
GAO and Navy investigations (2017–2018) concluded that the 2017 destroyer mishaps (Fitzgerald, McCain, Antietam, Lake Champlain) stemmed from:
Overworked, undermanned crews and extended deployments in 7th Fleet.
Large numbers of expired training certifications, including seamanship and navigation.cnn+1
Weak bridge resource management, complacency, and failure to follow standard procedures.wikipedia+2
The Navy ordered an “operational pause,” a Comprehensive Review and Strategic Readiness Review, and the CNO mandated more training in “basic safety, seamanship, and navigation” fleet‑wide.nytimes+1
Senior leaders, including the 7th Fleet commander and multiple COs, were relieved for loss of confidence.wikipedia+1
Note: this was before it sailed to the Middle East, It left Norfolk July 24, 2025, initially bound for Europe and the Mediterranean, but was directed to serve off Venezuela, where I presume it did well.
At least the US isn’t the UK. Their only “operational” navy ship, the Dragon, is in for minor repairs. Ready in a couple of weeks. Union rules.
https://www.the-sun.com/news/16045661/hms-dragon-engineers-finish-welding-keirs-cyprus-mission/
Water, water, every where, And all the boats did blush; Water, water, every where, Nor nary drop to flush.
The vacuum system was adopted in part from the cruise ship industry. It uses less water,
- - -
Hey, this water is for the toilets. Maybe salt water would work.
Now, just where could that US Carrier find some?????
Yes, there's not much water to flush toilets with in the middle of the ocean.
The cause of the failures have been know since the ship was commissioned. It is women flushing sanitary products down the toilets into a system in which every toilet is tied together into a mega system.
The cause of the failures have been know since the ship was commissioned. It is women flushing sanitary products down the toilets into a system in which every toilet is tied together into a mega system.
I don’t understand how something so well known for generations can be so badly designed and installed and now unfixable.
We have done everything with waste, from houses that send their sewage uphill with grinding ejector pumps, to toilets in homes that flush to floors above through small hoses, we know about urinal drains getting hardened calcium buildup, and we knew all these problems before these engineers were even born.
They had to spend the last nine days digging for this information. I hope they all got a gold star!🙄
This was news nearly two weeks ago-reports of tshirts being flushed
New design. Sometimes it's a bad idea.
It's like driving an EV instead of a gasoline vehicle.
If this is all they can find, then I guess the early problems with the electric catapult have been fixed. In his first administration, Trump was talking about tearing it out and installing a steam system which would have required major refits.
A different design for removing exactly the same materials, in the same form, in the same amounts, of the same composition, everything the same, everything should have been known about the new system before it was installed, exactly how it worked, what maintenance would be required, what repair and replacement access would be needed, everything.
Sounds like the Navy was/is overrun with DEI, Woke and morons...... Did I just repeat myself.
Toilet system probably built by the lowest cost bidder with the loweest cost materials.
NEVER let enviro whackos, accountants or lawyers “manage” anything. Shitcan the whackos, but let the “bean counters’ count the beans and the “legal beagles” provide legal advice, but NO management; espcially when it comes to the toilet and weapons systems.....
NEVER HAD ANY SUCH PROBLEMS WITH OUTHOUSES AT ONE ROOM SCHOOL I WENT TO. :) :) :)
“The fancier they make the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up
the drain.”
— Scotty
My gut feeling is some one isn’t using toilet paper, maybe they are running out of toilet paper, wasn’t high on the list of thing to get.
“On board the carrier, the crew is battling a toilet system that the General Accountability Office reported in 2020 was undersized and poorly designed. The system continues to fail during deployment, forcing the crew of 4,600 sailors to live with a system that randomly breaks down during their months at sea.”
Take that, Putin!!!
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