USS Miami Repairs Scrapped, Navy Cites Recent Budget Cuts


The Navy has scrapped plans to repair the USS Miami in light of recent budget cuts. Navy Rear Admiral Rick Breckenridge, director of undersea warfare, made the announcement on Tuesday.

The Froton, Connecticut-based submarine was undergoing repairs from a fire set by a shipyard worker while the Miami was in dry dock at the Kittery shipyard.

Breckenridge explained that repairing the Miami would have meant canceling work on dozens of other ships, reports The Washington Post. The issues are due to budget restraints.

The USS Miami repairs were initially estimated at around $450 million. However, recently workers discovered new damage that would have driven up the repair cost significantly.

The newly discovered damage is related to the torpedo room and auxiliary machinery room, notes The Huffington Post. The USS Miami fire happened on May 23, 2012 and took 12 hours and more than 100 firefighters to put out.

But while the ship was saved initially, it appears the Miami is now headed to a scrapyard. Breckenridge added that canceling work on the other ships in favor of fixing Miami would have hurt the Navy’s overall readiness.

The fire damaged forward compartments in the Los Angeles-class submarine. Areas damaged included living quarters, a command and control center, and the torpedo room. Thankfully, weapons were removed while the sub was in dry dock.

Shipyard worker Casey James Fury was sentenced to 17 years in prison for admitting he set fire to the Miami. The sub was initially scheduled to return to service in 2015. However, it appears that the 23-year-old submarine will never see another mission.

Breckridge added in his statement that the decision to decommission the USS Miami was difficult, adding it was “taken after hard analysis and not made lightly.” Instead, the money that would have been used for repairs will now go to other maintenance project for the Navy’s fleet.

US Representative Chellie Pingree, whose district includes the shipyard where the Miami is currently sitting, blamed the loss of the submarine on Congress’ inability to agree on a budget. She commented that the Miami’s loss was because of sequestration.

Do you think the Navy is right to cancel repairs on the USS Miami? Is sequestration to blame for the decision to scrap the submarine?

[Image by US Navy via Wikimedia Commons]

Share this article: USS Miami Repairs Scrapped, Navy Cites Recent Budget Cuts
More from Inquisitr