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Home : Media : News
NEWS | Oct. 23, 2020

USS Bremerton continues inactivation process

By Max Maxfield, PSNS & IMF Public Affairs Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility

Los Angeles-class submarine USS Bremerton (SSN 698) entered Dry Dock 1 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility Oct. 14, 2020, to continue its inactivation process.

According to Gary Van Horn, project superintendent, while the ship is in dry dock, the propulsion plant will be deactivated and defueled; components and parts that might be used by other active Los Angeles-class submarines will be removed and stored; and hull blanks will be installed.

Van Horn said ship’s force will be working side by side with PSNS & IMF workers to help speed the inactivation process along. Also, the Bremerton Project Team will try to take advantage of lessons learned from other recent inactivations of Los Angeles-class submarines.

“Lessons learned from the ‘bridge and tower’ system that is being used currently in Dry Dock 5 for defueling operations on USS Olympia (SSN 717) and USS Louisville (SSN 724) will help with Bremerton,” said Van Horn. “We have been monitoring their progress closely and expect to realize time savings based on their lessons learned.”

The docking portion of the inactivation process is estimated to take about 11 months.

Bremerton departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, April 20, 2018, on its way to Bremerton, Washington, where it began the inactivation and decommissioning process.

Bremerton was commissioned on March 28, 1981, and is named after the city of Bremerton, Washington. The tenth ship of the Los Angeles-class nuclear powered attack submarine, much of Bremerton’s activities remain under wraps.

It’s most high-profile mission was to assist local, state and federal officials with the disposal of the commercial tanker, New Carissa. The vessel had been spilling oil since it was shipwrecked near Coos Bay, Oregon, Feb. 4, 1999, and posed a danger to the environment. Once the unified command completed work in preparation for the ship’s disposal, Bremerton stepped in to fire one MK-48 advanced capability torpedo to sink New Carissa March 11, 1999.