 Sub collision re-created
A Tribute to the Missing
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By Susan Roth
Advertiser Staff Writer
It will cost about $2 million to repair the USS Greeneville, the submarine that accidentally rammed a Japanese fishing boat a month ago off O‘ahu, Navy officials said yesterday.
The price is minuscule for the U.S. military, demonstrating how little damage the sub sustained in the accident that sliced through and sank the 174-foot Ehime Maru. It cost about $250 million to repair the USS Cole, which was left with a gaping hole after a terrorist attack in Yemen in October.
A new Virginia-class submarine costs about $2 billion. The Greeneville, a Los Angeles-class, fast-attack sub, cost about $850 million when it was built, said Navy spokesman Capt. Kevin Wensing. The submarine, which displaces 6,900 tons, was commissioned in February 1996.
Inspectors have completed detailed examinations and testing of the Greeneville’s hull, rudder, stern planes, shafting, propeller and their systems, the Navy reported. During the full battery of tests, which included taking some systems apart, they found no structural damage to the ship.
The sub was put in dry dock in the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Feb. 20 to give engineers, inspectors and mechanics a chance to check it out.
Some of the exterior coating on the submarine’s hull must be replaced, its rudder was scarred and some shock-
absorbing bolts in the rudder also require replacement. The sub also has some cosmetic damage, such as scratches on the hull plating.
Repair and preservation work will be complete in a few weeks. The Greeneville is tentatively scheduled to leave the dry dock in early April.
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