Waterfront Watch: ALL HANDS ON DECK
San Francisco team completes DMD By Anna Taylor • Public Affairs Specialist USS San Francisco (SSN 711) project team completed a Dual Media Discharge (DMD) at Norfolk Naval Shipyard earlier this year. San Francisco arrived at NNSY Jan. 25 for its conversion from an operational fast-attack submarine into a Moored Training Ship (MTS). San Francisco is the second of two next-generation MTSes to be used for training nuclear officers and Sailors at Nuclear Power Training Unit (NPTU) Charleston, South Carolina. NNSY has been converting the first, USS La Jolla (SSN 701), since Feb. 2015. A DMD is time-consuming, special-emphasis maintenance on the propulsion plant that is vital to the submarine’s readiness. The work, which began in February and was completed in April, is one of the larger responsibilities performed by the Operations Department (Code 300). This was the first time a submarine DMD has been performed pierside, proving the concept and eliminating the need for future Moored Training Ships to be relocated to NNSY for drydocking. This minimizes the cost and impact of maintenance on training at NPTU Charleston. The DMD team was comprised of workers from the Electronics Group (Code 950), the Mechanical Group (Code 930), the Structural Group (Code 920), the Pipe Group (Code 960), the Temporary Services Group (Code 970), along with the Nuclear Inspection Division (Code 139), and the Nuclear Engineering and Planning Department (Code 2300). Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program Director Adm. Frank Caldwell passed on a BRAVO ZULU message to Shipyard Commander Capt. Scott Brown for the DMD team. 26 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • JULY 2017
Above: The San Francisco DMD team celebrate completion of the evolution. Below: San Francisco arrives at NNSY for conversion.
“Your project team’s commitment to excellence ensured that DMD training, preparation and execution completed on schedule without error,” he said. “I greatly appreciate the long hours and incredibly hard work that you team put in to perform this first-of-akind work. Their dedication to the Navy and Nation has significantly advanced our ability to provide highly-trained nuclear operators to the Fleet.” Stephen Putnam and Robin Poindexter contributed to this report.