San Francisco at sea again after nose repair - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

San Francisco at sea again after nose repair

The once-crashed attack submarine San Francisco left Puget Sound for San Diego on Tuesday morning, more than four years after an accident that killed one crewman and injured 97 of 137 sailors on board.

On Jan. 8, 2005, the ship crashed into an undersea mountain 350 miles south of Guam, crushing the nose. After crossing the Pacific Ocean on the surface it arrived at the naval complex near Kitsap, Wash., in September 2005 and went into the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility for repairs in October 2006, according to Lt. Kyle Raines, spokesman at Submarine Group 9. He said it went into dry dock in December 2006 and was returned to the water in October 2008.

The nose of the decommissioned sub Honolulu replaced the destroyed portions on San Francisco.

San Francisco was formerly homeported in Guam but will now be based in San Diego with Submarine Squadron 11, Raines said, though was not certain when the San Francisco would rejoin the fleet or be ready for deployment again.

The Kitsap Sun newspaper reported that the nose replacement repairs cost $134 million.