The US Navy’s Los Angeles-class submarine USS Pittsburgh (SSN 720) has completed its inactivation process and is now awaiting the start of the recycling process.
The inactivation was completed at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility on August 5, almost a month earlier than scheduled, the navy has said.
According to Lt. Jamison Fiebrandt, military deputy project superintendent, Pittsburgh entered Dry dock 1 on July 25, 2019, to begin the inactivation process, and was moved to Mooring Alpha on August 6, to await recycling at some point in the future.
As with the recent inactivation of USS Buffalo (SSN 715), the sonar dome was removed and the sonar transducers were harvested during the inactivation phase, rather than waiting until the recycle phase, which allowed members of the ship’s force to assist with the work.
Fiebrandt said removing the sonar dome during inactivation will not only mean the vessel will take up less space at Mooring A, but more importantly this will also decrease the length of time it will take to recycle the vessel in Dry dock 2 later on. Removing the sonar dome during the inactivation phase does not add any time to the overall length of the project.
Pittsburgh’s keel was laid April 15, 1983, in Groton, Connecticut; was launched Dec. 8, 1984, and then commissioned Nov. 23, 1985.
The Pittsburgh crew completed their last deployment Feb. 25, 2019. Then the boat and her crew made their first arctic transit for a final homeport change from Groton to Bremerton, Washington, arriving May 28, 2019, to start the inactivation and decommissioning process.
