16 years ago, on January 8, 2005, the US Navy nuclear submarine USS San Francisco crashed into an underwater mountain 675 km southeast of Guam island.
Having its nose broken after a powerful collision, the submarine crawled back to Guam, docked at Apra port and was taken to the dry dock here.
USS San Francisco with damaged bow in dry dock in Guam on January 27, 2005.
The nuclear submarine USS Connecticut was in a similar situation last week, having to move back to Guam after a collision with a strange object in the East Sea on October 2.
Now, the only thing Guam can offer the USS Connecticut is to ensure secrecy from any outside eyes.
`The US Navy may face many difficulties in repairing the USS Connecticut if it is severely damaged, hindering the warship’s ability to safely move to Hawaii or the Puget Sound factory. There is a shortage of repair infrastructure
Many experts believe that the US Navy needs to reinvest in forward repair capabilities in Guam to ensure operational capacity for surface ships and submarines in the Pacific, before it can expand its presence and improve its operations.
`A few hundred million dollars for a mobile drydock, mooring barges and ship repair specialists will bring value in the future, unless the US Navy accepts billion-dollar warships having to stay at Apra port in
This situation has been going on for a long time, starting when the Pentagon closed the Naval Ship Repair Facility in Guam in 1995. Just two years later, the naval base and the Fleet and Industrial Logistics Center
US naval infrastructure in Guam currently cannot keep up with Washington’s strategy in the Indo-Pacific.
Submarine dock at Apra Bay and maintenance ship USS Frank Cable (below) in Guam in 2013. Photo: US Navy.
Meanwhile, onshore maintenance infrastructure on Guam is increasingly deteriorating, especially as MSC transfers much of its work to lower-cost overseas factories.
Two floating docks in Guam have disappeared, of which the World War II-era Richland was sold to a Philippine maritime company in 2016. The remaining floating dock, Machinist, was handed over to the US in 1980 and was damaged.
Experts say the USS Connecticut incident could be a wake-up call for the US, showing dangerous infrastructure weaknesses in the Pacific.
`The US Navy will have to provide funding and resources to Guam so that it can continue to be a safe harbor for warships in distress, from the USS San Francisco with its nose crushed to the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt suffering an outbreak.
