Photo By Hendrick Dickson | NORFOLK, Virginia (August 31, 2021) Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC)...... read more read more
Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC) Navy Divers (ND) teamed with Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) and Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) to complete innovative repairs aboard the Virginia-class attack submarine USS New Hampshire (SSN 778) Sept. 24.
The divers conducted weeks-long waterborne emergent repairs on #4 Main Ballast Tank (MBT) vent valves, which are vital to submarine operations and their ability to submerge, averting a docking period and saving an estimated $3 million.
MARMC, NNSY, NAVSEA and New Hampshire collaborated and proposed an innovative repair plan that required design, development and manufacture of specialized tools to maintain the valves in the shut position, while executing repairs. This included utilizing USS Texas (SSN 775), undergoing modernization at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS) in Portsmouth, Maine, to provide the repair team a mockup of the project.
“In order to access the vent valves, which is located at the top of the ballast tank, we would have to construct scaffolding,” said MARMC Chief Navy Diver John Putnam. “We were able use USS Texas, which is docked in Portsmouth, as a platform to stage construction before beginning repairs aboard New Hampshire.”
During the repair, the team utilized a live camera feed to enable technical experts to communicate in real time with the divers and provide direction to expedite the waterborne repairs. MARMC’s nine-person dive team conducted 95 dives totaling 14,396 minutes of bottom time.
“These vent valve innovative repairs averted a three-month docking period that would have required extensive structural modifications to realign trueness of center main ballast tank bulkhead,” said NNSY Commanding Officer Capt. Dianna Wolfson. “It was a tremendous display of teamwork and out of the box thinking to solve this significant problem. The efforts put forth to address this long term maintenance challenge demonstrate World Class Technical Support based on character and competence.”
MARMC, a directorate under Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), provides surface ship maintenance, management and oversight of private sector maintenance and fleet technical assistance to ships in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and provides support to the fifth and sixth Fleet Area of Responsibilities. They are also responsible for the floating dry-dock Dynamic (AFDL-6).
| Date Taken: | 10.12.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 10.12.2021 10:45 |
| Story ID: | 407100 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,187 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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