SSN 775 Reaches A Milestone

It looks like PCU Texas (SSN 775) will be going to sea pretty soon. Based on this photo of the crew eating a meal in crew's mess, this one of the serving line, and this press release, the boat has been place "in service":


Normally, the boat will start sea trials within a month of being placed in service; the press release says that they'll start early next month, with delivery to the Navy in June -- the "sea trials to delivery" schedule seems pretty agressive to me, especially since Newport News hasn't delivered a boat in 10 years. Still, the boat has come a long way since she was first rolled outside back in July 2004:

I'm eager to hear how she does at sea next month. Those interested in what they'll be doing for the next couple of months should skim this little manual. As NEWCON Eng for two subs, I pretty much had the thing memorized.

Bell-ringer 2049 08 April: A commenter wondered how the USS Texas Commissioning Committee was doing -- here's their website. Via that website, I surfed over to the Northrup Grumman USS Texas page, where I found a good picture for those who might have never gotten to see how a torpedo tube shutter door was put together:

Here's a blowup of the area of interest: