NORFOLK NAVAL SHIPYARD, Portsmouth, Va. –
USS Pasadena arrived at Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) Sept. 28 for a Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (DSRA).
Requiring approximately 113,000 workdays to replace, repair and overhaul components throughout the boat, this will mark NNSY’s first DSRA in a decade.
The project team has spent the past several months coordinating with Ship’s Force, streamlining the work package, and gleaning corporate lessons learned from other availabilities. The team has already leveraged an “early start” the past five months at Naval Station Norfolk to accomplish numerous jobs that don’t require being in a dry dock. This included all major ship alterations such as battery change-out and upgrading radar systems.
“Our goal as a project team is to over communicate; clear communication leads to a more cohesive and productive project team,” said Deputy Project Superintendent, Lt. Cmdr. Tim Olson. “We have emphasized this communication throughout our early start – within the project team, with ship’s force, with external stakeholders. In fact, we have been working with the ship since last October to ensure we identify potential issues to minimize adding work late into the availability that can lead to delays. This has also allowed us to better focus our efforts and find efficiencies, such as refining the work package so we can minimize hull cuts.”
Pasadena joins several significant projects on the NNSY waterfront, which includes USS George H.W. Bush’s (CVN 77) Drydocking Planned Incremental Availability, USS Harry S Truman’s (CVN 75) Extended Carrier Incremental Availability, and USS San Francisco (SSN 711), undergoing conversion into a Moored Training Ship. Olson said the project team’s motto is “hit ‘em with a boom” to not only acknowledge the submarine’s capability, but also the project team’s urgency is driving to timely delivery alongside the shipyard’s other priorities.
NNSY Submarine Program Manager Pat Ensley served as Deputy Project Superintendent on the shipyard’s last DSRA, USS Montpelier (SSN 765), which finished eight days early and under budget in July 2010. He pointed out Pasadena stands to benefit from NNSY’s unbroken record of on-time deliveries in intermediate level (I-Level) maintenance this year at its satellite location Fleet Maintenance Submarines (FMB) at Naval Station Norfolk. “Given USS Pasadena’s importance to the Navy, our job is to make sure we get her out on time and ready so the Fleet can put her to use in support of our national defense strategy,” said Ensley. “I am excited to get back into the attack submarine depot level business; we have excelled at the I-Level working on both Los Angeles Class and Virginia Class submarines at FMB. The Project Superintendent, Frank ‘Mule’ Williams, was recently transferred from FMB bringing a broader perspective to his project team from his experience with fast-paced execution on I-Level availabilities.”
Williams looks forward to pairing his knowledge with engaging the project team on innovative solutions to the challenging and complex work throughout this availability. “It is my privilege to be able to work with this young, energetic team,” he said. “The majority of managers are in positons for the first time and I consider this a great opportunity rather than a concern. They bring new ideas to the table and question the status quo by not accepting answers like ‘well, we have always done it like that,’ in order to help us improve as a shipyard and get after our top priority which is delivering combat-ready ships and submarines back to the Fleet on time,” he said. “Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s team is ready, ship’s force is ready, and both the Commanding Officer, Commander Sean Flanagan, and I share the same desire to get the work done right so we can get Pasadena out of the yard and back to sea where she belongs!”
Pasadena’s team is also incorporating lessons learned from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard’s USS Newport News (SSN 750) DSRA as part of the “One Shipyard” concept sharing knowledge and resources across the four public shipyards. This included effective availability planning, expected duration, and handling of similar jobs.