Pipefitter & Pipefitter Maintenance

A ship's piping systems are its vital lifelines. They carry the steam, gases and fluids needed for the ship to function. Apprentice pipefitters are taught the necessary skills to install, inspect, test and operate the various systems aboard ship. Apprentices receive training throughout various pipe fabrication shops. Students are first assigned to the apprentice section of the Pipe Shop to learn the basics of laying out, cutting, bending and fabricating several types of piping materials. Instruction is given in tack welding, brazing and threading, as well as the characteristics of steel, copper, copper-nickel, stainless steel and aluminum. Apprentices begin by building simple gaugeboards and fitting together basic pipe configurations. The work progresses until several apprentices work as a team in forming complex pipe assemblies for installation aboard a ship. After this phase, apprentices are assigned to a ship where they become familiar with the components and functions of various piping systems. The student installs, operates and tests steam, air, ballast, hydraulic, heating and cooling, and nuclear piping systems. If you choose a pipefitter apprenticeship in the Maintenance Department, you'll learn to maintain the various piping systems throughout our 550-acre facility. Your work may take you anywhere from unstopping a drain in one of our yard's buildings to onboard ship where temporary hookup of argon, oxygen, propane, air and steam services are required for ship construction.