Bowman Cites Virginia's Alpha Trials as a Success

Since 08-11-04

From NSL UPDATE 08-05-04

By Journalist 3rd Class Steven Feller, Commander, Navy Region Northeast Public Affairs

GROTON, Conn. (NNS) -- PCU Virginia (SSN 774) returned to General Dynamics’ Electric Boat Shipyard here July 30 after successfully completing its Alpha Sea Trials (AST).
All ships complete an AST, but for submarines, the AST is the first underway designated for propulsion plant testing and tightness dive testing. Virginia’s AST was special because it was the first for a new class of submarine. Adm. Frank L. “Skip” Bowman, director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion, embarked Virginia for the AST and was pleased with what he saw.

“Every expectation of mine from the propulsion plant and from the ship was met,” said Bowman. “As you can see from the broom that is hoisted up on the top of the sail, this sea trial was an absolute success - a clean sweep.”

During the previous three days, Virginia and her crew were pushed through a gauntlet of trials and tests associated with “taking a ship of this complexity underwater for the first time.” Bowman noted that the first dive was in itself an event, requiring Virginia to transition from “running at its maximum power at a flank bell, and reversing that ahead flank to an astern bell as rapidly as possible, to see if the sub and crew can take that kind of stressful action.”

Virginia performed three emergency blows during the AST. The ship also dove to test depth and maximum operating depth three times. The Virginia crew shut down the reactor and did crew casualty training twice, demonstrating the capability to rapidly restore the reactor and thus, electrical power and propulsion to the ship.

Bowman lauded Virginia Commanding Officer Capt. Dave Kern and his crew for their performance.

“I was almost blown away by the spirit and enthusiasm by both the shipyard people aboard and the crew in tackling some very difficult challenges, and coming through them with hardly any sleep," said Kern. “The training they’ve gone through in the past couple of years showed during these last three days."

Kern also praised his crew, saying their professionalism and sense of accomplishment stretches farther than the previous few days.

“My crew performed greatly and not just in these last three days, but over the last several months,” said Kern. “Most of these crew members have worked day and night to prepare for sea, and they’ve performed flawlessly along with the ship.”

According to Bowman, the propulsion plant also performed flawlessly, noting that Virginia’s power plant is more user-friendly than those on other classes of submarine.

“Automation that has not been incorporated into propulsion plants before is incorporated into this one, giving us the ability to reduce watchstanding requirements," he said. "The plant is very resilient - more resilient than previous plants. It’s also built in a modular fashion that makes it quieter."

“It incorporates a level of energy density never seen before on submarines, taking up less room. Its completely new design brings the submarine force into the 21st century with electronics, microprocessing, and digital analysis and displays that have not been used before to this extent on submarines,” he continued.

Bowman noted the Virginia-class submarine represents the first of the Navy’s major combatants designed specifically for missions after the Cold War.

“It’s the first ship designed specifically from the keel up to carry special warfare forces,” he said. “It’s the first ship to worry about non-acoustic means of detection, so that we are ready to operate in shallow waters, more so than the previous class ships that went before. It is the ship for the 21st century.”

3. Virginia Passes First At-Sea Test
By Chief Journalist Michael Foutch, Submarine Warfare Division Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Completing one of the first significant events in the Navy’s newest submarine class, PCU Virginia (SSN 774) returned to New London, Conn., July 30 after putting the ship’s propulsion plant through its most strenuous test yet.

Virginia’s initial (or Alpha) sea trials also gave the builders and crew a chance to test the watertight integrity of the ship and to examine major systems, such as the ship’s steering and diving, hydraulics and Emergency Main Ballast Tank Blow System. The three-day trip included evaluating the clearance and watertightness of external and internal hatches and hull fittings, while incrementally taking the ship to test depth. This also allowed the ship to discover any potential rattles or unwanted sounds caused by the compression of the submarine due to the ocean’s pressure on the hull.

This test, the first of many before Virginia’s initial scheduled deployment, was the chance to put to sea the Navy’s first post-Cold War submarine, one designed from blueprint to reality with long-term technological innovation in mind. The submarine boasts multimission capability and will include advanced heavyweight torpedoes, mines and Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (UUVs). In addition, Tomahawk missiles will be carried in vertical launch tubes, and it will feature an integral lock-out/lock-in chamber for Special Operations Forces and the ability to carry the Advanced Seal Delivery System (ASDS).

“We don’t know who the next conflict will be against, but the Virginia SSN has the versatility to deal with any foe, whether in a cave hundreds of miles inland, on a freighter smuggling WMDs [weapons of mass destruction], or a navy with a credible submarine or surface force,” said Capt. Dale Nees, the branch head for Submarine Acquisition, Refueling Overhauls, SSBN and SSGN Programs within the Submarine Warfare Division (N77) of the OPNAV staff. “The SSN, with its persistent, clandestine, non-provocative capabilities, provides the President and the joint forces commander with options to execute our national and military strategy.”

Nees said many tests on the propulsion plant and other ship’s systems on Virginia were already done while the ship was in New London. “But you’re talking about a big hunk of steel, welded up on dry land, and filled with complicated and sophisticated equipment,” Nees said. “You have to take it out to sea to find out if it all works as intended.”

With much of the design work on Virginia completed through a first-time use of state-of-the-art computer modeling, the Alpha sea trials also offered the first chance to test systems such as the real-world hydrodynamic effects of the rudder and planes against the design parameters.

In addition to testing the submarine’s equipment, the crew of Virginia has been looking forward to the first chance to take the lead ship of this class to sea. “For a few years now, this crew has been an integral part of the incremental process of completing assembly, testing, quality assurance and the paperwork leading up to the operation of the ship and its systems,” Nees said. “These guys are Sailors first, and like all Sailors, they are anxious to get back to sea.”

The efforts of the plankowners of Virginia have been an important part of the success in delivering the ship, Nees added. “This crew has one of the more demanding jobs in the submarine force. Not only do they have the responsibility of supporting the building of a new ship, but they’ve also been spending countless hours in trainers, classrooms, and many of them have been out on other ships to get or to stay qualified," Nees said. "So not only are they finishing up the transition from shore-based maintenance to a ship ready for sea, they’re also standing watches, performing all the routine maintenance, admin, housekeeping, etc., as well. I’m sure they’re very excited to put the ship to sea.”

Nees also pointed out that the sooner Virginia can get to sea and deliver, the more money the government saves.

But Nees compared construction on Virginia favorably to previous first-of-a-class submarine construction programs. For example, the projected man-hours to complete Virginia are about two-thirds of those for the Ohio and Seawolf class submarines, and only exceed original estimates by about 20 percent, as compared to nearly 80 percent for Seawolf and 65 percent for Ohio. Further, Virginia will be delivered three to four months later than planned, based on an original schedule estimated six years ago; by comparison, the Seawolf was 25 months late; Los Angeles was 26 months behind schedule; and Ohio was 30 months overdue.

“We’re not pleased with the cost growth, and continue to look at this carefully, but we are much closer in estimating production man-hours, and we’re doing a better job on design efforts,” Nees added.

As Virginia begins operations outside the shipyard, the focus will shift away from the cost of the new class toward the capabilities of this formidable addition to the nation’s defense arsenal.

The next test for Virginia will be Bravo sea trials in August, Nees said, with particular attention to the ship’s underwater acoustics. Afterward, the ship will pull into Norfolk in time for preparations for the submarine’s commissioning ceremony Oct. 23.

Virginia will return to New London after the ceremony to enter a yearlong post-delivery trial period. During this period, Nees said, tests will “run the full gamut; sound trials, fire control, sonar, communications, weapon launchers, you name it, every system evaluated in excruciating detail - especially since this is the lead ship of the class. We’ll use this as an opportunity to evaluate whether we need to make any changes in construction, to discover whether we have any design problems that need to be resolved.”

Post-availability shakedown is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2005, and the submarine force leadership is striving for an accelerated schedule to deploy Virginia as soon as possible.