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NNSY Returns USS Jacksonville to Fleet Early

NAVSEA News Wire

Release Date: 12 May 2003

By Steve Milner, Norfolk Naval Shipyard Public Affairs

PORTSMOUTH, Va. -- Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) completed its second consecutive Interim Drydocking (IDD) availability early and under budget, when it recently returned the submarine USS Jacksonville (SSN 699) to the Fleet.

The project vision was "Focusing the TEAM to rebuild the Jacksonville better than before- FIT TO FIGHT!"

According to Shipyard Commander, Capt. Mark Hugel, a key factor in finishing this availability 14 days early was due to Jacksonville completing its sea trial deep dive with no deficiencies.

Jacksonville's commanding officer, Cmdr. Michael W. Brown, and Submarine Squadron Eight, were extremely pleased with the quality of NNSY work to have the boat back early and already be training for the next deployment.

Hugel also attributes the availability's success to the NNSY project team and ship's force, which capitalized on lessons learned from the recently completed USS Hyman G. Rickover (SSN 709) project at NNSY.

"The successes on Jacksonville and Rickover were not happenstance," he said. "The teams on both of these availabilities worked well together and communicated well amongst themselves and with the support team from around the shipyard, on whom they were depending."

Hugel said the project's plan revolved around schedule--that is, defining what needed to be accomplished and holding each other accountable to do it day by day, and shift by shift.

NNSY's Jacksonville Project Superintendent, Lt. Cmdr. Brian Murphy, said that an integrated, continually updated plan was key to making the best use of labor (and budget) by working the priority jobs and always having the backup work ready when delays occur, to maintain overall schedule adherence.

Communication, as always, Murphy added, was instrumental to this project's success, by facilitating the integration of NNSY, Regional Maintenance Department, the Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activity, Ship's Force and multiple contractor work to avoid schedule conflicts between organizations.

"We stuck to our resource leveled schedule and frequently updated it, using a disciplined technical approach," he explained.

The Jacksonville IDD began on Dec. 9, 2002, in the floating drydock Resolute (AFDM-10) at Naval Station Norfolk. The Jacksonville project was a 40,000 manday (35,000 NNSY and 5,000 contractor) undertaking. The list of critical path work items included preservation of 20 internal tanks, Special Hull Treatment (SHT) replacement, restoration of main seawater hull and backup valves, preservation of all main ballast tanks, steering and diving system inspection and repair, including removal and restoration of the Fairwater planes, restoration of some ventilation valves and the use of four hull cuts.

The contractors performing significant work were Earl Industries, Corrosion Engineering Services and Oceaneering International /Consolidated Launcher Technology (OI/CLT).

The Jacksonville project team's commitment to excellence and persistence on all fronts allowed it to meet cost, schedule, quality, customer satisfaction and safety goals and continued the trend of improving submarine performance at NNSY, according to Murphy.