Category Archives: US Submarines

News, views and stories about US submarines

US – Sequestration Could Jeopardize Two Contracts For EB, Second Submarine

Leave a reply

‘This is a very serious impasse that could really put a cloud over EB’s projected hiring,’ Congressman Joe Courtney says. But he adds that Congress still has time to fix the impasse.

Welding on the hull of the Mississippi in Building 260, Groton. Credit Electric Boat photography department

Welding on the hull of the Mississippi in Building 260, Groton. Credit Electric Boat photography department

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney said the federal cuts slated to go into effect under sequestration would affect shipyards across the country, including Electric Boat in Groton.

Sequestration – or $1.2 trillion in cuts – are slated to go into effect March 1. Half the cuts would come from the defense industry.

Electric Boat has two contracts with the Navy – one a $94 million contract to repair the USS Miami, the Groton-built nuclear submarine that caught fire at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard May 23; and the second a $34.9 million contract to work on the USS Providence, which was scheduled to come into Groton later this year.

Both could be suspended if sequestration occurs.

“This is a very serious impasse that could really put a cloud over EB’s projected hiring,” Courney said, referring to the optimistic picture painted by the company during a legislative breakfast in January.

“But Congress still has time to fix the impasse and allow the great work that people do there to go forward. The leadership of the Navy, over and over again, repeated their desire to have this work move forward in Groton. But their hands are tired until Congress and the White House come to an agreement,” he said.

According to the Electric Boat website, repairs to the USS Miami would involve 300 EB employees.

Electric Boat has declined comment on the potential impacts.

“The Department of Defense has not informed us how it intends to implement sequestration, if it occurs. Consequently, any response on our part would be speculative,” Spokesman Dan Barrett said in an e-mail.

Courtney said that in addition to the repair contracts that could be placed on hold, Congress last year got a defense bill through that provided funding for a second submarine to be built in 2014. But he said Congress does not have a budget bill passed to go with that defense bill, The current spending bill ends March 27.

Admiral Jonathan Greenert, who testified last week before the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, said that if the Navy did not get a spending bill to match the defense bill, the second submarine would be at risk.

Electric Boat is meanwhile proceeding with the Ohio replacement program, which deals with a different class of submarines. As of Monday, the company was still hiring engineers and other positions.

“There’s still time to stop the madness here, and that’s true,” Courtney said. “It’s not like the law takes away the money irrevocably in one day.” He said sequestration was designed to be completely unacceptable but cutting indiscriminately across all areas, thereby forcing a compromise.

“And hopefully,” he said, “as in the past with sequestration, cooler heads will prevail.”

Source – Groton Patch

 

San Diego submarine dives into Hollywood – Video clip

Leave a reply

San Diego Submarine

Click on picture above for video clip

SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) – This Friday the movie “Phantom” opens in theaters across the country (USA).

The Cold War-era movie was shot entirely in San Diego using a real-life Russian submarine.

In this News 8 video story, Jeff Zevely met the movie’s writer and director onboard the Soviet B-39 sub.

Source – CBS8

Navy to Congress: No budget, no second submarine in 2014

Leave a reply

USS Providence (SSN – 719)

Service releases plan in face of looming, automatic budget cuts.

If Congress doesn’t pass a budget this fiscal year, the Navy said it likely would not purchase a second Virginia-class submarine in 2014.

The Navy released its latest plan to Congress on Tuesday for how it will be affected if the government keeps operating on a continuing resolution that funds spending at last year’s levels, and if Congress does not act before March 1 to prevent the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration.

The continuing resolution expires March 27, and Congress could extend it for the rest of the fiscal year.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said the House Armed Services Committee created and passed a plan that authorized two submarines in 2014.

“Now it is incumbent on congressional appropriators to work with us to get the rest of the way there,” he said. “The House’s plate is full and time is running out to act. That is why last week I voted against Speaker Boehner’s motion to adjourn, shutting down the House for 10 days that would be better used tackling these issues, supporting our critical defense priorities, and protecting our economy.”

The Navy told Congress last month it would cancel a $45 million repair job on the USS Providence (SSN 719) at Electric Boat and two demolition projects involving three older buildings at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton unless Congress agreed on a new budget. And if sequestration occurs, the Navy said, it would delay repairs to the Groton-based USS Miami and cancel several ship deployments.

At that time, the Navy did not say the second submarine in 2014 was in jeopardy. A Navy spokeswoman said Tuesday’s update provides a higher level of detail.

EB in Groton and Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia jointly build two attack submarines per year. The plans for two submarines in 2013 are not expected to change.

Source – The Day

149 year anniversary of the first submarine to sink an enemy warship

Leave a reply

Sunday marks the anniversary of the H.L. Hunley’s mission against the federal blockade ship Housatonic off Charleston.

The Hunley sank the Union ship but neither the sub nor its eight-man crew returned.

Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell speaks at a ceremony Sunday at Sunrise Presbyterian Church on Breach Inlet where the Hunley began its mission. Afterward, there’s a procession to the inlet where there will be infantry and artillery salutes.

Both the crew of the Hunley and the five Houstonic crewmen who died are being honored.

Confederate Civil War vessel H.L. Hunley, the world’s first successful combat submarine

H. L. Hunley was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that played a small part in the American Civil War, but a large role in the history of naval warfare. The Hunley demonstrated both the advantages and the dangers of undersea warfare. It was the first combat submarine to sink an enemy warship, although the Hunley was not completely submerged and was lost at some point following her successful attack. The Confederacy lost 21 crewmen in three sinkings of the Hunley during her short career. The submarine was named for her inventor, Horace Lawson Hunley, shortly after it was taken into service under the control of the Confederate Army at Charleston, South Carolina.

The Hunley, nearly 40 feet (12 m) long, was built at Mobile, Alabama, and launched in July 1863. It was then shipped by rail on August 12, 1863 to Charleston, South Carolina. Hunley (then called Fish Boat) sank on August 29, 1863, during a training exercise, killing five members of her crew. It sank again on October 15, 1863, killing all eight of her second crew, including Horace Hunley himself, who was aboard at the time, even though he was not enlisted in the Confederate armed forces. Both times the Hunley was raised and returned to service. On February 17, 1864, Hunley attacked and sank the 1240-short ton (1124 metric tons) screw sloop USS Housatonic on Union blockade duty in Charleston’s outer harbor. Soon after, Hunley sank, killing all eight of her third crew. This time, the innovative ship was lost.

Finally located in 1995, the Hunley was recovered in 2000 and is on display in Charleston. Examination in 2012 of recovered Hunley artifacts suggests that the submarine was as close as 20 feet to its target, the Housatonic, when its deployed torpedo exploded, which eventually caused the sub’s own demise.

Source – Wikipedia

Source – WLTX

Babcock & Wilcox announces $510 million in defense contracts

2 Replies

Babcock & Wilcox

The Babcock & Wilcox Company has been awarded more than $510 million in contracts to supply the U.S. military with nuclear components, the firm announced this morning.

The work, which will include making nuclear power systems for submarines and aircraft carriers, will be performed in part at B&W’s Nuclear Operations Group, which is headquartered on Mt. Athos Road.

Facilities in Barberton, Ohio; Euclid, Ohio; and Mt. Vernon, Indiana also will participate. The work began in January and will last eight years, B&W said.

B&W said more than $445 million of the $510 million figure was issued as options under a 2010 contract worth $2 billion, while more than $65 million was issued under a new fiscal-year 2013 agreement. However, the total amount was appropriated in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Source – News Advance

US Navy fires CO, XO of attack sub USS Jacksonville

1 Reply

Cmdr. Nathan Sukols, CO of attack sub Jacksonville, was relieved Feb. 10 due to loss of confidence in his ability to command

Cmdr. Nathan Sukols, CO of attack sub Jacksonville, was relieved Feb. 10 due to loss of confidence in his ability to command

The commanding officer and executive officer of attack submarine Jacksonville were relieved of command Sunday, according to a Navy release.

Cmdr. Nathan Sukols was fired due to loss of confidence in his ability to command. Lt. Cmdr. Lauren Allen was fired due to loss of confidence in his ability to serve as XO. Both received non-judicial punishment and were reassigned to administrative duties at Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. The firings occurred following an admiral’s mast on Sunday in Manama, Bahrain.

The two reliefs come just one month after Jacksonville collided with a civilian vessel Jan. 10 in the Persian Gulf, damaging one of the sub’s two periscopes. Repairs have been completed, according to the release.

Cmdr. Richard Seif, previous CO of Los Angeles-class submarine Buffalo, is temporarily taking over as the commanding officer of Jacksonville. Lt. Cmdr. Todd Santala will temporarily serve as XO.

Attack submarine Jacksonville is currently deployed to the 5th Fleet.

Source – Navy Times

USA (New London) Submarine Birthday Ball Sing-off entries due 1st March

Leave a reply
New London, Conn. —

The Southeastern Connecticut Submarine Force seeks singers to compete at its second annual Submarine Birthday Ball Sing-off auditions, set for 6 p.m. March 22 at the Dealey Center, New London.

The singer who best sings the National Anthem during the auditions will perform at the 113th Southeastern Connecticut Submarine Force Birthday Ball April 13 at the MGM Grand Hotel at Foxwoods Resort, Mashantucket. In addition, the winner will receive two complimentary tickets to attend the ball as well as a one-night stay at the hotel during the night of the event.

The contest is open to all active duty military, reservists, retirees, dependents, Navy civilians and individuals at least 18 years old. To enter, record a video singing any song and upload it to facebook.com/SubmarineBallSingOff or send it to submarineballsingoff@gmail.com. Deadline is March 1.

 Source – Norwich Bulletin

Another US Navy submarine arrives amid unsolved Tubbataha grounding

Leave a reply

USS Guardian to be dismantled after running aground on Philippines’ Tubbataha Reef

    The U.S. Navy minesweeper USS Guardian, top, is seen stranded on the Tubbataha Reef, a World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea 400 miles southwest of Manila, Philippines, Jan. 25, 2013, in this picture released by the Tubbataha Management Office.

The U.S. Navy minesweeper USS Guardian, top, is seen stranded on the Tubbataha Reef, a World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea 400 miles southwest of Manila, Philippines, Jan. 25, 2013, in this picture released by the Tubbataha Management Office. / AP Photo/Tubbataha Management Office

MANILA, Philippines The U.S. Navy said Wednesday that it would dismantle a minesweeper that ran aground on a coral reef in the Philippines after carefully studying all options on how to remove the damaged ship.

Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. James Stockman said dismantling the USS Guardian was determined to be the solution that would involve the least damage to the Tubbataha Reef, a protected marine sanctuary where the ship got stuck Jan. 17.

He said the Philippine coast guard was reviewing the plan, but gave no other details.

The Navy had said previously that the Guardian would be lifted by crane onto a barge and taken to a shipyard, but apparently the damage was too extensive and it will have to be cut up and removed in pieces. Stockman gave no time frame for the operation.

The grounding caused no casualties to the ship’s 79 crew and officers, who were taken off the vessel after it crashed into the reef in shallow waters. The ship began listing and taking on water through holes in the wooden hull. The Navy’s support vessels siphoned off remaining fuel and salvage teams removed heavy equipment and hazardous material.

The Navy is investigating the incident, which caused Philippine government agencies and environmentalists to express concern about the extent of damage to the coral reef.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said last week that the U.S. Navy must explain how the ship got off course. He said the Navy would face fines for damaging the environment.

Rear Adm. Thomas Carney, commander of the Navy’s Logistics Group in the Western Pacific, told reporters last week that the investigation would look into all the factors that may have led to the grounding, including a reported faulty digital chart, sea conditions, weather and the state of the ship’s navigational equipment.

The Navy and the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, Harry K. Thomas, have apologized for the grounding and promised to cooperate with its close ally.

Source – CBS News

USS Cheyenne comes alongside

MANILA – The problem with the grounded US Navy ship is still ongoing, and many questions as to why it had sailed there in the first place and what will happen to it and the reef are still unanswered, yet, here comes another US military ship, a nuclear-powered submarine, docking in Subic Bay, Zambales, the former US military base shuttered by popular demand in 1992. The docking, as expected, drew protests.

“The presence of a US nuclear-powered ship at Subic clearly violates the nuclear- free provision of the 1987 Philippine Constitution as well as Art. II sec. 7, which requires an independent foreign policy that prioritizes national interest,” said Bayan Muna Partylist Rep. Neri Colmenares.

The USS Cheyenne is described by the US Pacific Command as a Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine capable of launching Tomahawk missiles, which are long- range rockets that can be armed with nuclear warheads. In fact, it is being described as one of the most capable nuclear attack submarines in the world today. For Malacañang to grant it a diplomatic pass to enter Philippine waters and dock at Subic Bay, is viewed by various groups as “callous.”
Malacañang justifies this by saying that it merely a “nuclear-powered” ship and, thus, not covered by the prohibition of the 1987 Constitution against the entry and stockpiling of nuclear weapons.

“Aquino’s callous permission for and defense of the entry of this nuclear-powered submarine into our country shows the world just how unthinking his obedience to the US is,” said Elmer “Bong” Labog, chairman of Kilusang Mayo Uno, in a statement. As the USS Cheyenne is also headed to the same path taken by the USS Guardian, critics such as the KMU now ask: “What is the US up to this time?”

“Every American warship that docks in the Philippines reduces the country to a military outpost of the US in the Asia-Pacific region and likewise reveals the farcical claims of Philippine sovereignty by the puppet Philippine government,” the CPP said in a statement. They warned that the rising number of US naval vessels that dock and patrol in Philippine seas increases as well the possibility of more environmental damage such as the destruction of the Tubbataha corals and the reported dumping of human and toxic waste off the coast of Subic last year.

In 2012, US ships made 197 port calls in the Philippines, while some 444 American aircraft were cleared for landing in the country’s airports, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. It represented a more than four- fold increase from the recorded arrivals in 2010 and 2011.

Source – Bulatlat

USS San Francisco arrives in S. Korea

Leave a reply
U.S. nuclear-powered submarine arrives in S. Korea for joint drill
A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine arrived in the southeastern port city of Jinhae for joint naval drills with South Korea, military officials said Friday, in a move seen as a warning to North Korea ahead of what may be an imminent nuclear test.

USS San Francisco (SSN-711), a 6,800-ton Los Angeles-class submarine, has been anchored at a naval base in Jinhae, 410 kilometers southeast of Seoul, since Thursday to prepare for joint drills slated for next week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

A 9,800-ton cruiser equipped with missiles and torpedoes as well as naval combat helicopters also arrived in the southern port city of Busan, on the same day, it said.

USS SAn Francicos (SSN-711) anchored at a naval base in Jinhae for joint drills with South Korea ahead of North Korea’s planned nuclear test. (Yonhap)

The port call came as tensions rose on the Korean Peninsula after the North last month warned of a nuclear test in response to the U.N. Security Council’s increased sanctions on Pyongyang for its December rocket launch.

A new nuclear test would mark the North’s third since two previous tests in 2006 and 2009.

The two U.S. ships and 10 Korean warships, including Aegis destroyers and battle ships, will carry out the joint exercises in the East Sea to test combat readiness between the two sides, the JCS said, though a specific date has not yet been confirmed.

In a visit to the naval base in Jinhae, JCS Chairman Jung Seung-jo said Thursday the North has nearly completed its preparations for a nuclear test at its Punggye-ri testing location, noting increased activity spotted by satellites near the nuclear site.

“We are closely looking into whether (increased activity) is a manipulating tactic or preparations for a nuclear test indeed,” Jung told reporters, during a tour of the submarine. “The North is ready to conduct an atomic test at any time if the leadership makes a decision.”

Jung Seung-jo, the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, visits a naval base in the southeastern city of Jinhae. (Yonhap)

Although U.S. nuclear-powered submarines have occasionally made port calls in the past, Jung said the latest visit is “meaningful because it is for joint drills.”

“The upcoming drill, which had already been planned, is not targeted for (North Korea’s) nuclear test,” Jung told reporters, adding that the exercise is aimed at coping with possible North Korean provocations involving submarines.

Jung did not elaborate when the two sides had agreed on the exercise plan.

Military officials in Seoul expect the exercise will show their determination to respond sternly if the communist nation defies a chorus of international warnings.

“Although it is a pre-planned exercise, this upcoming joint drill will send a message to North Korea that any misbehavior will not be overlooked,” the official said, asking for anonymity due to sensitivity of the issue.

After the North warned of “substantial and high-profile important state measures,” senior military officials have visited front-line units to order vigilance in an effort to add pressure on the isolated state to drop the test plan, which is feared to raise tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

In a meeting with top security ministers Thursday, President Lee Myung-bak warned of “grave consequences” if Pyongyang moves forward with the test, urging the defense minister, spy chief and national security advisers to maintain strong military preparedness against any provocations from the North.
About 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea as a deterrence against North Korea, after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

U.S. submarines and remote troops will get to watch the Super Bowl

1 Reply

This Sunday, U.S. troops based on submarines and ships in the Persian Gulf, the Pacific Ocean and the Mediterranean, will be receiving classified drone video feeds in order to get in on this year’s Super Bowl action. The high tech video feed will also be transferred to remote outposts in Afghanistan, so the troops there won’t have to miss out on the big game either.

US Sumbarine

Although missing out on the expensive hyped up commercials because of contractual rules, this allows thousands of remote personnel to see Joe Flacco and his team take on Colin Kaepernick and his team, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

The technology involves hopping from satellite to satellite resulting in a one or two second delay of the signal, nary a concern for a TV-deprived group of football fans. This broadcast, leveraging the Global Broadcast Service (GBS), in parnterhip with the American Forces Radio and Television Service, Raytheon and the U.S. Air Force, is a great way to boost morale for the troops.

Other major sporting events have been trasmitted using this Global Broadcast Service in the past including World Series, NCAA Tournament final four and the Alabama vs. Notre Dame National Championship game.

The Super Bowl feed will be transferred to a receiver from an antenna atop the masts, then ported to flat panel screens around the submarine or ship.

Besides having the ability to watch major games to “stay connected” with their country, the GBS technology, more importantly allows the troops, regardless of where they are on the Earth (including above or below), to communicate with each other and pass along much needed data for security and safety.

It is Raytheon’s Navy Multiband Terminal’s (NMT), one of three types of terminals that support the Army, Navy and Air Force, that communicate with the satellites allowing the transmission of text, voice and video data.

Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellites, the military’s newest satellite technology, has increased data transfer rates to more than five times their predecessors. All three of Raytheon’s terminal types, including the Navy Multiband Terminal’s mentioned previously, have tested well with this new satellite technology.

With the intent on adding terminals to over 300 U.S. Navy ships, subs and shore stations in the future, the “big game” can be seen by more people in more places, hopefully in time to boost much needed morale and provide the home-connection they long for.

Source – DTV USA Forum