Unauthorized repairs sideline Navy's 3 newest fast-attack subs

Sailors man the rails at the commissioning ceremony for the Virginia-class submarine USS John Warner at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on Aug. 1, 2015.
U.S. Navy

ByErik Slavin

Stars and Stripes

Published: August 5, 2015

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YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The Navy’s three newest fast-attack submarines are on operational restrictions after a contractor found undocumented repairs made to critical components, service officials said.

USS John Warner, which was just commissioned Saturday, along with USS Minnesota and USS North Dakota, have been sidelined because of concerns over pipe elbows that help connect the steam generated by the nuclear power plant to the turbines.

“As part of an ongoing investigation into a quality control issue with a supplier, General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) determined that three steam pipe elbows supplied by the vendor in question required additional testing and repair due to unauthorized and undocumented weld repairs having been performed on these elbows,” said Rory O’Connor, a spokesman for the Naval Sea Systems Command, in a statement sent to Stars and Stripes on Wednesday evening from Washington.

GDEB and Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding are performing additional inspections, O’Connor stated. The two contractors are the Navy’s primary submarine builders.

Keeping up standards for the components is an important safety measure for the crews, O’Connor added.