Amphibious assault ship USS Boxer is out of action, and it's a problem, top Marine Corps general says

The amphibious assault ship USS Boxer transits the East Sea during Exercise Ssang Yong 2016 March 8, 2016. REUTERS/U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Craig Z. Rodarte/Handout via Reuters

• USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship, is undergoing repairs, causing disruptions to Marine Corps operations.
• The ship’s issues began in 2022 and have continued, delaying deployment.
• Naval Surface Force has stated that the USS Boxer may deploy this summer.

USS Boxer, a namphibious assault ship, is undergoing repairs, and a top general says that the hang-ups are affecting Marine Corps operations and depriving the force of key capabilities.

“When you lose your big-deck, you lose most of your aviation assets and you lose your crisis response force,” Marine Corps commandant Gen. Eric M. Smith told members of the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.

Smith also said that Marines cannot train the same with the USS Boxer, a large flattop that resembles a medium-sized aircraft carrier, currently out of action.

Amphibious assault ships, or LHDs, typically have flight and hangar decks that helicopters and aircraft like the Harrier jump jet or newer F-35Bs can operate from.

An F-35B Lightning II aircraft assigned to the “Vikings” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 225 lands on the flight deck aboard USS Boxer (LHD 4), Sept. 20, 2023. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Mikal Chapman

USS Boxer has experienced ongoing technical issues since 2022, when two of the ship’s forced draft fans repeatedly failed. The following year, there were two additional incidents. The ship’s main gearbox was spun without proper lubrication. The details of the other incident remain unclear.

Some of the ship’s engineers were found to have been negligent in past command investigations into some of the Boxer’s problems.

More recently, the ship’s rudder is in need of repairs and its roller bearing system is under evaluation after failing.

“We are evaluating the different procedures that will be done to repair her. It’s about a four- to six-week repair,” Adm. Lisa M. Franchetti, the Chief of Naval Operations, told the House committee. “We’re still investigating the cause of the bearing, but it was either potentially installed improperly or the bearing itself had some type of defect.”

The warship has been pierside in San Diego since early April, and its deployment has been delayed since January. Naval Surface Force told USNI News in a recent statement that the Boxer may be deployed “as soon as this summer.”

USS Boxer received seven Navy-wide awards in March, including the Battle Effectiveness Award and Maritime Warfare Excellence Award for its “sustained superior performance.”

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