USS San Francisco - Update

It has been a little while since the grounding of the USS San Francisco (SSN 711) has been in the news. This accident resulted in the tragic death of Machinist Mate 2nd Class Joseph Allen Ashley, 24, of Akron, Ohio. Since then the ship has been fitted with a new sonar dome, as seen in this official U. S. Navy photograph. Get an excellent high resolution copy of this photo here.

She has now arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for permanent repairs. I was standing topside on USS Ohio (SSGN 726) and observed USS San Francisco driving into Sinclair Inlet and then the Shipyard.

The damage that she sustained is extremely extensive. In fact, the ship was very nearly lost. Here are some photographs of her in dry dock after her arrival in Guam shortly after the grounding (with blue tarp installed to cover stuff that is classified).

View from dry dock floor.

View from dry dock wall.

Despite the obviously very serious damage that she sustained in an accident that took a sailor's life, she will be rebuilt and in the end have greater capabilities than she had before. Trust me, I hear things in the shipyard. We will make her better than she was.