UPDATED With Navy Statement Thursday Morning
Word came late last night about a fire ripping through the USS Miami, a Los Angeles class attack submarine. The ship’s reactor was not operating at the time and no weapons were aboard.
The fire, even if the reactor is completely undamaged, is expected to add at least several months to the Miami’s stay in the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Los Angeles subs are mostly designed to escort carrier groups.
At 11 p.m. Wednesday the fire was still not under control.
“At approximately 5:41 this evening Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Fire Department responded to a report of a fire onboard USS Miami (SSN 755). Emergency personnel remain on-scene and continue to fight the fire. The cause of the fire is not known at this time and will be fully investigated,” Capt. Bryant Fuller, head of the shipyard, said in a statement.
The sub was in dry dock for regularly scheduled maintenance.
UPDATE: [Posted 9:30 a.m.] Navy statement out this morning:
“The fire is out and areas where the fire was located are being inspected for hot spots.
The fire impacted only the forward compartment, which includes crew living and command and control spaces. The nuclear propulsion spaces were physically isolated early in the event from the forward compartment fire. The ship’s reactor was not operating at the time, had been shut down for over two months, and remained in a safe and stable condition throughout the entire event. Propulsion plant spaces remained habitable and were continuously manned.”
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