US Navy press release
BREMERTON, Washington – Interim seismic mitigation efforts, which began March 29 on Dry Dock 5, have been completed at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility in Bremerton. The dry dock has been tested and re-certified and USS Connecticut (SSN 22) was docked for its Extended Docking Selected Restricted Availability (EDSRA) July 12.
Mitigation work continues at the Trident Refit Facility Delta Pier in Bangor. Based on future planned improvements to Dry Dock 6, and differences in ship design and the size of aircraft carriers, it was determined immediate seismic mitigations are not required. Aircraft carrier maintenance at PSNS & IMF remains unaffected.
The need for mitigations in the remaining docks will be determined once current efforts are complete and may include stability enhancements for submarine availabilities.
“Watching this team of experts come together to make these upgrades has been remarkable,” said Capt. JD Crinklaw, commander, PSNS & IMF. “The Navy’s rapid response to this challenge has been a true testament to the dedication of our team and our commitment to the safety and readiness of our people and our fleet.”
Construction efforts include drilling holes for the installation of anchors inside the dry dock walls to enhance structural integrity and ensure the safety of the workforce, community, environment, and submarines. The mitigation efforts updated existing emergency response plans to better address the chance of a catastrophic earthquake, along with improved early-warning employee notification systems in the dry docks.
Experts from private industry, Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command and PSNS & IMF will continue to plan and implement the structural upgrades, with an eye on the Navy’s future needs and in support of the PSNS & IMF mission to deliver modern, fully-mission capable warships on-time, every time, preserving our national security.
These short-term mitigation actions do not affect the nation’s strategic deterrent capability or the ability of the fleet to continue its overall mission. PSNS & IMF remains the primary provider for the maintenance, repair, modernization, inactivation and disposal of ships, submarines, and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in the Pacific Fleet.
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Naval News comments;
The U.S. Navy’s Seawolf-class submarine, USS Connecticut (SSN 22), hit a seamount in the South China Sea on October 2, 2021 and propelled itself back to Guam for damage assessment and repairs. It received preliminary repairs in Guam in November of the same year and then sailed to San Diego where it arrive in December.
According to Kitsap Sun, reporting from Bremerton, USS Connecticut entered Dry Dock 5 for damage assessment on February 8, 2022.
However, potentially complicating SSN 22’s repair issue is USNI News’ January 2023 story that dry docks at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, were closed for investigation due to the risk of extensive damage and safety issues in the event of a major earthquake in that area. According to USNI, “The Navy established PNSY in 1901, with the oldest of the six dry docks originally built in 1906. The dry docks the service has closed are four of the newest ones. Dry Dock 4 and 5 were both built in the early 1940s, while Dry Dock 6 – used for aircraft carrier overhauls – was completed in 1962.”