The Day: Submarine Indiana to make Groton its home sooner than expected | Congressman Joe Courtney
Skip to main content

The Day: Submarine Indiana to make Groton its home sooner than expected

August 3, 2018

Groton — The Navy's newest submarine will make Groton its home after its Sept. 29 commissioning, which U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said is seven months earlier than originally planned.

Electric Boat already won a contract to perform maintenance on the USS Indiana, a Virginia-class, fast-attack submarine, beginning in November. The work will correct any defects found during so-called "shakedown" testing before the submarine is deployed.

Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia finished and delivered the submarine in June.

Courtney said last month that the maintenance work awarded to EB typically is done at the shipyard that delivers the submarine. If that had been the case, the submarine likely wouldn't have come to the Naval Submarine Base until May 2019.

Courtney said Thursday that he believes the Navy chose EB for the work in part because its schedule in the fall is less busy than that of Newport News, both of which are private shipyards.

"I think it will be a quicker turnaround in Groton," Courtney said.

Courtney said the early "homeporting" of the Indiana means 138 military personnel will come to the area before expected and will be around for maintenance on the submarine.

...

Read the full story at TheDay.com