Seawolf submarine USS Connecticut ready for return to fleet after dry docking overhaul

One of three US Navy “special mission” Seawolf-class submarines, USS Connecticut (SSN 22), is ready to return to the fleet after completing its dry-docking overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility.

Connecticut had moved out of the shipyard’s Dry Dock 4 on August 10 to put the finishing touches on its five-and-a-half-month period of maintenance and modernization, formally known as a docking continuous maintenance availability.

All works on the submarine were finally completed on September 5, after shipyard personnel invested more than 30,200 man-days into the effort on Connecticut, which began March 26 when the sub entered dry dock.

The submarine started the overhaul after completing a deployment in January this year. In 2018, Connecticut took part in the Arctic exercise ICEX that included a North Pole surfacing, scientific data collection and other training evolutions.

One of three Seawolf-class submarines in the Navy’s fleet, Connecticut was commissioned on Dec. 11, 1998. It is the fifth vessel by that name, and its motto is “Arsenal of the Nation.”

David Fleck, PSNS & IMF Connecticut project superintendent, said the complex process of moving the submarine out of dry dock went very smoothly and involved superior work from multiple shipyard organizations. “Undocking Connecticut was an entire shipyard effort and a major win to clear the way for (docking the next vessel),” Fleck said.