Rijeka, Croatia –
The U.S. 6th Fleet command and control ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) departed Viktor Lenac shipyard in Rijeka, Croatia, Oct. 18 for the first time since the ship arrived in December 2016.
Mount Whitney was at Viktor Lenac shipyard for a regularly scheduled maintenance period to upgrade communications and network systems as well as receive work to the propulsion, electrical and ventilation systems as well as the habitability of the ship. The work was completed over the course of ten months as part of scheduled maintenance to extend the life cycle of the ship to 2039.
“The key thing is that the ship had a very successful yard period,” said Capt. Matt Lehman, Deputy Commodore for Command Task Force 65. “I think the program was successful and the Viktor Lenac shipyard as well as the crew did some great work and the hard work shows. The Mount Whitney has a great plan going into the future and I look forward to seeing everything she does in the coming months as the 6th Fleet flag ship.”
The ship is on course back to her homeport in Gaeta, Italy, where she will stay until regularly scheduled operations later this year.
“After a ten-month shipyard period, it is awesome to see the efforts of the crew and the shipyard workers be rewarded with this first underway of sea trials,” said Capt. Kavon Hakimzadeh, commanding officer of USS Mount Whitney.
Mount Whitney, forward-deployed to Gaeta, Italy, operates with a combined crew of U.S. Navy Sailors and Military Sealift Command civil service mariners.