USS Miami (SSN-755)

Last updated

USS Miami SSN-755.jpg
USS Miami moored to a Port Everglades pier in April 2004.
History
Flag of the United States.svgUnited States
NameMiami
Namesake City of Miami
Awarded28 November 1983
Builder General Dynamics Electric Boat
Laid down24 October 1986
Launched12 November 1988
Sponsored byJane P. Wilkinson
Commissioned30 June 1990
Decommissioned28 March 2014
Out of service8 August 2013
Stricken28 March 2014
Homeport Groton, Connecticut, U.S.
IdentificationSSN-755
Motto"No Free Rides, Everybody Rows!"
StatusStricken, to be disposed of by submarine recycling
Badge USS Miami (SSN-755) insignia.png
General characteristics
Class and type Los Angeles-class submarine
Displacement
  • 5,751 long tons (5,843 t) light
  • 6,146 long tons (6,245 t) full
  • 395 long tons (401 t) dead
Length110.3 m (361 ft 11 in)
Beam10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Draft9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
Propulsion
  • 1 × S6G PWR nuclear reactor with D2W core (165 MW), HEU 93.5% [1] [2]
  • 2 × steam turbines (33,500) shp
  • 1 × shaft
  • 1 × secondary propulsion motor 325 hp (242 kW)
Complement12 officers, 98 men
Armament

USS Miami (SSN-755) was a Los Angeles-class submarine of the United States Navy. She was the third vessel of the U.S. Navy to be named after Miami, Florida. Miami was the forty-fourth Los Angeles-class (688) submarine and the fifth Improved Los Angeles-class (688I) submarine to be built and commissioned. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 28 November 1983, and her keel was laid down on 24 October 1986. She was launched on 12 November 1988 and commissioned on 30 June 1990 with Commander Thomas W. Mader in command.

Contents

On 1 March 2012, Miami arrived at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, for a scheduled 20-month Engineered Overhaul (EOH) and system upgrades. On 23 May, a shipyard employee started a fire that spread to crew living, command and control, and torpedo spaces. Repairs were initially estimated to require three years and $450 million, an estimate later revised to a range of $450 million to $700 million.

On 6 August 2013, Navy officials said that due to budget cuts, the vessel would not be repaired. The submarine was placed on the inactive list, [3] then decommissioned on 28 March 2014. [4]

History

1999

Miami became the first submarine to conduct combat operations in two theaters since World War II (Operation Desert Fox and Operation Allied Force). The submarine was featured in The Learning Channel (TLC) Extreme Machine episode on "Nuclear Submarines".

2012 fire

Miami enters dry dock at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on 15 March 2012 to begin an engineering overhaul. She was severely damaged by fire two months later. 120315-N-TT535-040 USS Miami.jpg
Miami enters dry dock at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on 15 March 2012 to begin an engineering overhaul. She was severely damaged by fire two months later.

At 5:41 p.m. EDT on 23 May 2012, fire crews were called with a report of a fire on Miami while she was being overhauled at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. At the time, the submarine was in the second month of a scheduled 20-month maintenance cycle, [5] [6] indicating that she was undergoing an extensive "Engineering Overhaul". [7] The national media reported that seven firefighters had been injured. [8] One crew member suffered broken ribs when he fell through a hole left by removed deck plates during the fire. [9] It took firefighters 12 hours to extinguish it. [10]

Initially, the U.S. Navy reported that the fire started when an industrial vacuum cleaner used "to clean worksites on the sub after shipyard workers' shifts" sucked up a heat source that ignited debris inside the vacuum. On 23 July 2012, however, civilian painter and sandblaster Casey J. Fury was indicted on two counts of arson after confessing to starting the fire. Fury said he lit rags on a berthing compartment's top bunk so he could get out of work early. [11] [12] [13] [14] On 15 March 2013, he was sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $400 million in restitution. [15] As of March 2021, Fury was incarcerated at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey. [16]

The debate over whether to repair or scrap Miami lasted more than a year. Within a month of the fire, Maine Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe advocated repairing the submarine. [17] In July 2012, Navy leaders asked Congress to add $220 million to the operations and maintenance budget for emergent and unfunded ship repairs. [18] In August, the Navy decided to repair the boat for an estimated total cost of $450 million. [19] The repair cost was expected to be trimmed by using spare parts from the recently decommissioned USS Memphis [20] and by repairing rather than replacing damaged hull sections, as had been done with another Los Angeles-class boat, San Francisco. [21] But both of these approaches proved unworkable with the newer Miami. [22] [23] As well, a detailed assessment raised the estimated repair bill to $700 million. [24]

On 6 August 2013, the U.S. Navy announced its intention to decommission Miami, concluding the cost was more than it could afford in a time of budget cuts. [25] The sub was officially decommissioned on 28 March 2014, to be disposed of via the nuclear Ship-Submarine Recycling Program. [26]

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References

  1. ↑ "International Panel on Fissile Materials". fissilematerials.org. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  2. ↑ "Validation of the Use of Low Enriched Uranium as a Replacement for Highly Enriched Uranium in US Submarine Reactors" (PDF). dspace.mit.edu. June 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  3. ↑ Miller, Kevin; Hoey, Dennis (6 August 2013). "Navy abandons plan to fix nuclear sub burned in Maine". Kennebec Journal. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  4. ↑ "Decommissioning today for fire-damaged sub Miami". Militarytimes.com. Associated Press. 28 March 2014. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "Fire Extinguished on Nuclear Submarine in Maine". CBS Boston. 24 May 2012. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  6. ↑ "Fire reported on nuclear-powered submarine at Maine shipyard". Necn.com. 23 May 2012. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  7. ↑ Pike, John (29 October 2003). "SSN-688 Los Angeles-class Engineered Refueling Overhaul (ERO)". Globalsecurity.org. Archived from the original on 29 April 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  8. ↑ ABC's Good Morning America 24 May 2012
  9. ↑ Sharp, David (10 September 2012). "Nuclear Submarine Fire Sparks Two Navy Probes". Portland Press Herald .
  10. ↑ Sharp, David (6 August 2013). "Navy drops plans to repair fire-damaged submarine USS Miami, citing budget restraints". Times Colonist. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  11. ↑ "Navy: No update on USS Miami investigation". boston.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  12. ↑ McMahon, Charles (23 July 2012). "Suspect in $400M sub blaze appears in court". seacoastonline.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  13. ↑ "Man charged in fire on USS Miami". wcvb.com. 23 July 2012. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  14. ↑ Canfield, Clarke (2012). "Civilian worker charged with setting both fires aboard, near submarine in Maine shipyard". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  15. ↑ Boyette, Chris (16 March 2013). "Shipyard worker sentenced to 17 years for $400 million submarine fire". CNN. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  16. ↑ "United States v. Fury, Docket no. 2:12-cr-00186-GZS". United States District Court District of Maine. 31 March 2021. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023– via casetext.com.
  17. ↑ Hoey, Dennis (7 June 2012). "Navy: Fire on nuclear sub started in vacuum cleaner". Portland Press Herald. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  18. ↑ McDermott, Jennifer (20 July 2012). "Links to USS Miami fire explored". theday.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  19. ↑ "USS Miami Expected Back In Service In 2015". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on 24 August 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  20. ↑ "Parts from retired sub will be used to repair USS Miami". WMUR. 3 October 2012. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  21. ↑ Ewing, Philip (21 October 2008). "Transplant complete, attack sub floats again". NavyTimes. Retrieved 5 July 2015.(subscription required)
  22. ↑ Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ↑ "Fire and Fixes aboard USS Miami". Defenseindustrydaily.com. 2 October 2012. Archived from the original on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  24. ↑ Sharp, David (18 March 2013). "Navy: Repairs to submarine Miami now uncertain". NavyTimes. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  25. ↑ Breckenridge, Richard (7 August 2013). "USS Miami: A Tangible Impact to Readiness from Sequestration". Navy Live. Archived from the original on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  26. ↑ McDermott, Jennifer (29 March 2014). "Fire-stricken submarine USS Miami is decommissioned". The Day . Stars and Stripes. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  27. ↑ Clancy, Tom (1993). Submarine: A Guided Tour Inside a Nuclear Warship . Berkley Books. ISBN   0-425-13873-9.

This article includes information collected from the public domain sources Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships and Naval Vessel Register .

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