More welding problems prompt another investigation on Navy submarines

General Dynamics Electric Boat has launched another investigation into welds on at least one Virginia Class submarine after the company found that a shipbuilder at its Quonset Point, R.I., shipyard may not have properly evaluated the quality of the welds he was charged with inspecting.

The employee, who Electric Boat would identify only as a "trade worker," worked on at least one submarine -- the recently delivered New Mexico -- though the probe could expand to include other boats, officials told the Daily Press this week.

Electric Boat, which builds submarines in a partnership with Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Newport News shipyard, notified the Navy "immediately" after it uncovered the issue Dec. 1, said Robert A. Hamilton, a company spokesman.

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