The U.S. Navy's Zumwalt guided-missile destroyer has sustained an engineering casualty, less than a month before it is slated to be commissioned into service. U.S. Navy photo

NORFOLK, Va., Sept. 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy's Zumwalt guided-missile destroyer has sustained an engineering casualty, less than a month before it is slated to be commissioned into service.

The casualty occurred on Monday during preparation to get underway at Naval Station Norfolk, the sea service told the U.S. Naval Institute.


The future DDG 1000 will stay in Norfolk to conduct an assessment of the casualty and to complete repairs.

Crews discovered the casualty after detecting a seawater leak in the propulsion motor drive lube oil auxiliary system for one of the ship's shafts, USNI reported.

While built-in redundancies in the ship's propulsion plant allows the first-in-class destroyer to operate with multiple engine configurations, it was determined that repairs should be done in port.

The Navy's newest and most technologically advanced surface ship was in the midst of a three-month journey to its San Diego home port.

The Zumwalt was scheduled to perform operational proficiency training, certifications and preparation ahead of its October commissioning.