Haines Welding

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In October 2024, the U.S. Navy revealed something most people never heard about: welders at the Newport News Shipyard in Virginia had failed to follow proper welding procedures — and the bad work had ended up on some of the most important vessels in the fleet.

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro confirmed the affected ships included the freshly overhauled aircraft carrier USS George Washington and two brand-new attack submarines, the USS Hyman G. Rickover and the USS New Jersey. The shipyard told Congress the problem traced back to welders who “did not follow welding procedures properly.” The Navy said it was reviewing at least 23 ships that may have been touched by the substandard work. Officials stressed the faulty welds were not on components affecting ship safety or operations — but the carrier was already underway in the Pacific by the time the news broke.

A weld is only as honest as the person laying the bead. On a submarine, there’s no room for “close enough” — and the scary part isn’t the welds they caught. It’s wondering how many they didn’t.

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02/07/2026