Thursday, June 14, 2012

USS Miami

On May 23 of this year, the USS Miami (SSN-755) had an onboard fire while it was in dry dock at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard undergoing a 2 year refit. It took 10 hours to put the fire out. 7 firefighters were injured trying to fight the fire within the confines of the submarine. The fire was limited to the forward spaces. The reactor, which had been shutdown, was not in any danger. The cause has been determined to be an industrial vacuum cleaner that had picked up a "heat source" (weld slag, cigarette butt?) and then caught fire. The Navy continues to evaluate the damage and cause.

If you are a submarine history buff, you will remember that it was on May 23, 1939 that the USS Squalus (SS 192) , also a Portsmouth boat, was sunk. There must be something about that day that causes problems for submariners and PNSY.

4 comments:

Old NFO said...

Apparently a piece of slag, and they ARE planning to fix her.

Anonymous said...

23, 23 and bodes unwell. 4/19 is another date. 23, skidoo.

kevin flanagan said...

Has it been confirmed that it was welding material that started the fire?

Peripatetic Engineer said...

No. Last news was that the fire started in a vacuum cleaner that had been used for clean up and then stowed in a closet. There was no indication of what the material was that was sucked up and eventually started the fire. The new rule is that all vacuums will be removed at end of shift.

PS. I looked at your N Conway website but could not find Jonathan's seafood restaurant.