US Navy awards Electric Boat $7m contract for dry dock repairs at New London

USS Shippingport (ARDM-4) is a medium auxiliary repair dry dock built a Beth Steel, Baltimore and commissioned into US Navy service in 1979.

General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Conn., is being awarded a $7,103,796 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-10-C-4301) to provide ship’s force duties; protection and operation; and organizational-level repairs and preservation of floating dry dock ARDM-4 at the Naval Submarine Support Facility, Naval Submarine Base, New London, Conn. Work will be performed in New London, Conn., and is expected to be completed by September 2014. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $7,103,796 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

Source: Department of Defense Contracts for November 07, 2013

USS North Dakota (SSN 784) christening ceremony, 2 Nov 2013

131102-N-SF554-009 GROTON, Conn (Nov. 2, 2013) Pre-Commissioning Unit North Dakota (SSN 784) sits moored at the graving dock of General Dynamics Electric Boat prior to its christening ceremony in Groton, Conn., Nov. 2. North Dakota is the 11th Virginia-class attack submarine and is scheduled to be commissioned in early 2014. (U.S. Navy Photo by Lt. j.g. Phillip Chitty/Released)

US Navy names first 2 attack submarines to have female crew

He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.

Navy Names First Two Attack Boats to Have Female Crew

Lt. Thomas Belchik trains Midshipman 1st Class Elizabeth Byers in 2009. US Navy Photo.

Submarines USS Virginia (SSN-774) and USS Minnesota (SSN-783) will be the first nuclear attack boats (SSNs) to field female crewmembers, the U.S. Navy said in a Tuesday statement.

A total of six female sailors — four nuclear trained officers and two supply officers — will report to Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Conn. no latter than January 2015, according to the statement.

“My plan is to begin by integrating four Virginia-class attack submarines, with the second set of two units being integrated in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016,” Vice Adm. Michael Connor, commander, Submarine Forces, said in the statement.

“I intend to select two Pacific Fleet submarines, homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii early next year.”

Each ship will receive two nuclear qualified officers and a supply officer — to serve as a mentor— as a first step of integrating the attack boats.

USS Virginia (SSN-774) in 2010.

“The female officers will be assigned to the Virginia-class submarines for duty after completing the nuclear submarine training pipeline, which consists of nuclear power school, prototype training and the Submarine Officer Basic Course,” according to the service.

Since the Navy got rid of the prohibition of women on submarines, the Navy has integrated seven Ohio-class nuclear guided missile (SSGN) and nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBN):

USS Florida (SSGN-728); USS Georgia (SSGN-729); USS Wyoming (SSBN-742); USS Ohio (SSGN-726); USS Louisiana (SSBN-743); USS Maine (SSBN-741),

The Navy began with the larger Ohios since there was more room and flexibility to provide the material accommodation to allow women to serve on submarines. Virginias have more room than the older Los Angeles-class (SSN-688) attack boats to provide berthing to female sailors.

“Female officers serving aboard Virginia-class submarines is the next natural step to more fully integrate women into the submarine force,” Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said in a statement.

The Navy has not released a timeline on which platforms or when female enlisted will enter the submarine service.

Since the service rescinded the no-women-on-subs policy in 2010, it has brought 43 women aboard submarines.

news.usni.org/2013/10/15/navy-names-first-two-attack-boats-female-crew

Pentagon budget cuts mean USS Miami will be scrapped, not repaired

The USS Miami will be scrapped, not repaired.

Navy drops plans to repair submarine Miami

Smoke rises from a dry dock as fire crews respond Wednesday, May 23, 2012 to a fire on the nuclear submarine Miami, SSN 755, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on an island in Kittery, Maine. Seven people were injured, including a firefighter. (AP Photo | The Herald, Ionna Raptis)

PORTLAND, Maine

The Navy has decided to scrap the Miami instead of repairing the nuclear-powered submarine because of budget cuts and growing costs of repairing damage from a fire set by a shipyard worker while the vessel was in dry dock at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine, officials said Tuesday.

Rear Adm. Rick Breckenridge, director of undersea warfare, said repairing the Groton, Conn.-based sub would have meant canceling work on dozens of other ships because of new budget restraints.

He said that would’ve hurt the Navy’s overall readiness.

“The Navy and the nation simply cannot afford to weaken other fleet readiness in the way that would be required to afford repairs to Miami,” Breckenridge said in a statement.

Inspections revealed that a significant number of components in the torpedo room and auxiliary machinery room would require replacement, further driving up the repair costs for the Miami. The Navy originally said it planned to repair the submarine, but the discovery of additional damage raised the cost, originally estimated to be about $450 million.

A shipyard worker, Casey James Fury of Portsmouth, N.H., was sentenced to 17 years in prison after admitting he set fire to the Miami, which was undergoing a 20-month overhaul at the Kittery shipyard.

It took 12 hours and the efforts of more than 100 firefighters to save the Los Angeles-class attack submarine. Seven people were hurt.

The fire, set on May 23, 2012, damaged forward compartments including living quarters, a command and control center and the torpedo room. Weapons had been removed for the repair, and the fire never reached the rear of the submarine, where the nuclear propulsion components are located.

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King of Maine and Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire issued a statement blaming the decision to scrap the submarine on the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration.

“We are disappointed by the Navy’s decision to discontinue repairs to the USS Miami. Inactivating the Miami will mean a loss to our nuclear submarine fleet — yet another unfortunate consequence of the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration. We will continue to work together to find a responsible budget solution that replaces sequestration,” they said.

The Navy announced last summer that it intended to repair the Miami with a goal of returning it to service in 2015. The Navy said it would be cost-effective because the 22-year-old submarine could serve another 10 years.

The decision to deactivate the Miami was a difficult one, “taken after hard analysis and not made lightly,” Breckenridge said in his statement. “But in exchange for avoiding the cost of repairs, we will open up funds to support other vital maintenance efforts, improving the wholeness and readiness of the fleet.”

The repairs have potential implications for both Portsmouth Naval Shipyard workers and workers from Electric Boat in Groton, who expected to play a major role in the repair effort.

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/08/navy-drops-plans-repair-submarine-miami

Megastructures: USS Virginia (2005)