Keeping the blogosphere posted on the goings on of the world of submarines since late 2004... and mocking and belittling general foolishness wherever it may be found. Idaho's first and foremost submarine blog. (If you don't like something on this blog, please E-mail me; don't call me at home.)

Friday, May 22, 2009

USS Hartford Returns Home

Check out this article from The New London Day, including some good pictures, of the return of USS Hartford (SSN 768) to her homeport of Groton. Excerpts:
But “it was a long ride,” said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Chris Yaras of Groton, who met his month-old daughter, Ella, for the first time Thursday.
Many of the crew's families were at the base to welcome the Hartford home. Yaras called it “awesome” to be back.
As the corpsman, Yaras treated the injured crew members after the collision. Most had minor cuts and scrapes, he said.
“It was amazing,” he said. “I went from 'I don't think we're going to make it through this to holy cow, there's no one hurt.' ”...
...In July, the Hartford will go to Electric Boat, which has been awarded a $15.8 million contract to restore it to “full service condition,” according to a Defense Department release on Thursday. The work is expected to be completed by October. The formal investigations into the collision are still in the endorsement phase, with senior leaders providing their input. The crew has been given a month off.
Harkins said he will soon turn over command of the Hartford to Cmdr. Robert Dunn, who was serving on the staff of the commander for the Submarine Force Pacific Fleet.
CDR Dunn was my relief as Eng of USS Connecticut (SSN 22) back in 1999; I'm glad to see the Hartford got an officer of his caliber to lead them through this difficult time. I'm also glad to see the crew is getting a standdown; the writer's description of the standdown as "a month off", however, shows that The Day still hasn't quite found a seasoned replacement for writing about military matters since Robert Hamilton left a few years ago.

22 Comments:

Blogger Buck said...

Welcome back, HARTFORD.

5/22/2009 8:03 AM

 
Blogger Don the Baptist said...

Hear, hear!

5/22/2009 11:44 AM

 
Blogger stoeast said...

Keep in mind that the 15.8M is for planning and
Doing some prerequisite structural work only. I'm not
Bob Hamilton, but at least 4-5 times that amount will
Be required to bring the ship back into service. As for
Doing so by the end of October? Not likely!

5/22/2009 1:19 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

For your non-military readers like myself, please explain about the "month off" vs "stand down." I take it that means the crew won't really get 30 days away from duty.

I'm sorry that paper's reporter got it wrong. You can expect more such problems as experienced writers and editors leave the profession as the print media disappears.

5/22/2009 1:51 PM

 
Blogger DDM said...

For your non-military readers like myself, please explain about the "month off" vs "stand down." I take it that means the crew won't really get 30 days away from duty.

Standdown means that you basically maintain the minimum required watchstanders and minimum work. This allows the maximum number of crew to take leave. In general, if you don't have duty, you have a day off. The crew generally will also shift to three section vice four to allow maximum leave. So every three days, you'll have 24-hr duty. Hope this answers your question.

5/22/2009 3:17 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You can't tell me this isn't our beloved mikey Jr. spouting off on a local newspaper site...

"I'm trying to understand how a sub could hit another boat in this day and age. I will admit I am ignorant, but when the commander and chief of the boat are relieved, was there COMPLETE negligence? I just don't understand how this could happen and how it could boil down to being the responsibility of 2 people. Maybe you Navy guys could enlighten me.
mike
montville, Ct"

Please Mike. Just let it go. Just be happy that noone was hurt. Leave those local folks alone. They just want their sailors back.

Welcome home boys. Welcome home.

5/22/2009 4:17 PM

 
Blogger Srvd_SSN_CO said...

Rob is a good guy. Tough assignment though.

BT BT

You would think that a town with such a big military influence, and one of two nuclear shipyards, might have a paper that knew about military stuff. You would think that. Wouldn't you?

5/22/2009 5:12 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

15 million won't even buy a new
bridge trunk from EB. My buddies are estimating closer to 150 million for a whole new sail. That doesn't include the damage to the hull and framing. October? My @ss. It's not like they have a 688I sail laying around.
Glad they made it home safe.

5/22/2009 9:49 PM

 
Blogger Nereus said...

I don't see 15 Mil covering the repair.
I wonder if they are going to do something like the Hono/Frisco graft they did here at the Puget Sound shipyard. There are still a few 688's in the bone yard that could provide the donor sail and bridge trunk.

5/23/2009 9:55 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

No 688I's in the Dead Fleet at Puget. All the dead fleet boats have Fairwater plans! We won't be seeing Hartford back in the fleet for at least 18 months. Whatever EB bid, it was to get the work. Now that they got it, it will be a long time to finish.

5/23/2009 10:50 AM

 
Blogger wtfdnucsailor said...

Give the DAY reporter a break. I am sure that Jennifer Grogan knows the difference between a 'month off' and 'standdown' but she also knows that most of her readers are not military and would not understand the 'standdown' term. She has become a very good military reporter since the DAY gave her that assignment. Her series on the local Independent Augmentees (IAs) in Iraq was as good as Bob Hamilton's series on PROVIDENCE.

5/23/2009 10:57 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The scope of work for the $15.8M:

"Under the terms of the contract, Electric Boat will perform planning work, material procurement and fabrication of a hull patch and a bridge access trunk, as well as planning and material procurement for the port retractable bow plane. Electric Boat also will perform planning work on the sail to restore USS Hartford to full-service condition."(link)

So the ~$16M is basically a cover charge to enter the shipyard...you don't see the magic word "repair" anywhere in that statement of work. It will be a much fatter $ number before all is said and done.

I also agree with wtfdnucsailr regarding the "standdown" term. It barely qualifies as English, much less being an accurate description (how exactly does one "stand down"?). Most readers of The Day are not in the military.

5/23/2009 8:37 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Correct me if I'm wrong but Portsmouth Shipyard actually contracted the work and EB letting them use their drydock. The two shipyard's will likely set a new standard for dual shipyard work.

5/24/2009 9:48 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Welcome Back, but I'm sorry, the wives needed to be put in the box and the homecoming should have been much more low key. A lei around the damaged sail? Come on...

As far as the shipyard rumors, to quote Pulp Ficton, "You boys when you get together are worse than a sewing circle." EB, a private shipyard, partnering with Portsmouth, a public shipyard. Not in a million years. They would both overcharge in epic proportions.

5/25/2009 8:35 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

At least they did not fly a broom.

5/25/2009 1:00 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

CDR Dunn was my first Eng when I got to the Connecticut Im glad to see he got his command....He's a great guy and I wish him the best of luck

5/25/2009 11:55 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The unendorsed scrubbed investigation report is on the street and available for reading on the high side. It is worth taking the trouble to parse through the dross to find the nuggets not included in the 'summary' report.

STSC

6/01/2009 8:11 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I heard the OOD got off at mast with nothing. Seems odd after reading the mishap report. Anyone know the skinny??

6/19/2009 7:06 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous is disclosing way too much information! Why are you disclosing info about the OOD??? Stirring the pot???

6/22/2009 7:26 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What did I "disclose"? Just asking a question...

7/06/2009 9:13 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

CSG2 spoke of the Hartford and disciplinary hearings in an interview with The Day on June 23rd.
http://archive.theday.com/re.aspx?re=f8b8a42d-2d1f-420f-990a-981dcc8448a2

7/09/2009 12:04 PM

 
Anonymous Sibyl said...

Well, I do not really suppose this may work.

9/02/2012 12:36 PM

 

Post a Comment

<< Home