Waterjets Expand Capabilities for Shop 11 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Christian Victor Bautista | Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s (NNSY) Shipfitter Shop (Shop 11) installed waterjets back in September, and they are used every day. The team uses them to cut flanges and different types of foundations. Normally, the shop outsources their work, but the new waterjets allow them to keep the work in-house and not have to rely on other codes, which saves time and improves workflow. Each waterjet is a six-foot wide by 17-foot-long table that uses 55,000 pounds per square inch (PSI) water and garnet to cut materials up to nine inches thick.  

PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES

10.08.2024

Story by Susanne Greene 

Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s (NNSY) Shipfitter Shop (Shop 11) installed waterjets back in September, and they are used every day. The team uses them to cut flanges and different types of foundations. Normally, the shop outsources their work, but the new waterjets allow them to keep the work in-house and not have to rely on other codes, which saves time and improves workflow. Each waterjet is a six-foot wide by 17-foot-long table that uses 55,000 pounds per square inch (PSI) water and garnet to cut materials up to nine inches thick.
Shipfitter Supervisor John McClelland has been at the shipyard for eight years. He started as a Surface Craft Supervisor, but then moved to the Materials Section and oversees flange turners, material handling and the layout section.
“The two waterjets that we use cut different types of flanges, pipe thicknesses, we use them to etch part numbers into pipes and to cut various prefab sections,” said McClelland. “The machine shops always had waterjets, but leadership decided that because we work with Shop 31 [NNSY’s Inside Machine Shop] so much, we needed our own machines.”
“Our shop has plasma cutting machines as well, but they are not as tight tolerant,” said McClelland. “The waterjets help expand our shop’s capabilities, so when hot jobs come up and Shop 31 is busy, we can take on additional work outside of what machinists’ shops do and cut material for them.”
On each machine, McClelland has a two-person rule, one person to run it and program it with a second person to assist. His waterjet teams consist of four working operators, a work leader and a person responsible for material.
Aluminum cuts faster than steel and stainless-steel cuts slower. It all depends on the material type as to how fast the waterjets cut. They also provide more accurate cutting. The waterjets can cut things as small as sheet metal all the way up to blanks for sea test valves and material for hull cuts.
“My team is learning every day and has developed a way that we can transfer layout marks to the plates,” said McClelland. “Instead of using paper templates, the waterjets put the lines in the material for us, and we can take it right to the section, so the measurements are more accurate.”
The waterjets provide more opportunity for the shipyard’s Structural Department (Code 920) and shed light on the team’s talent. They are deemed shipfitters but can now draw AutoCAD and do everything that an inside machinist does.
“My crew loves the waterjets,” said McClelland. “They are excited about coming to work and taking pride in doing all the machine maintenance and keeping everything up to par.”
McClelland continued, “Using the waterjets gives them a real sense of pride in knowing that what they do makes a difference every day at Norfolk Naval Shipyard.”

• Date Taken: 10.08.2024
• Date Posted: 12.11.2024 12:23
• Story ID: 487192
• Location: PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, US