Pearl Harbor Shipyard Working on 3 Top-Class Submarines

The fast attack submarine USS North Carolina recently entered a maintenance facility in Pearl Harbor, an unprecedented situation that is likely to occur more often in the future.

The North Carolina, which arrived Sept. 4, joined two other Virginia-class submarines at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility. Shipyard officials say this is the first time that three of the Navy’s newest class of submarines have been drydocked at the same time.

Four dry docks for ship and submarine maintenance operate at the facility. But one, built in 1942, is too small and shallow to service the Virginia-class submarines that the Navy continues to acquire as replacements for its aging Los Angeles-class submarines in an effort to modernize more of the U.S. fleet, which includes about a dozen submarines homeported in Pearl Harbor.

To accommodate the shift, contractors selected by Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command are in the early stages of a $3.4 billion expansion of the shipyard, with a new dry dock expected to be completed in 2028.

“In order to maintain the number of Virginia-class submarines we have at Pearl Harbor, all four drydocks will need to be operating at full capacity for a number of years into the future so that they can be properly maintained,” Capt. Richard Jones, then the shipyard’s commander, said in February as major construction work began on the perimeter of the new drydock in the water next to the aging drydock that will close after the retirement of the last Los Angeles-class submarine.

Capt. Ryan McCrillis, the shipyard’s current commanding officer, said in a statement that the current level of maintenance work stems from the planned needs of warships and advances the shipyard’s mission to be the best.

“This is where the mission of the No Ka Oi shipyard comes to life,” he said. “Our shipyard team of civilians and sailors, working with the crew of each ship, accomplishes everything necessary to keep the fleet fit to fight.”

Work is underway on the North Carolina, SSN 777, in Dry Dock 1. Two other Virginia-class submarines, the USS Illinois and USS Colorado, are also underway in Dry Dock 2.

There is also an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, USS Hopper, DDG 70, in Dry Dock 4.

Dry Dock 3 is still functional, but cannot handle Virginia-class submarines or larger surface vessels.

The duration of the work varies by vessel, but is on average two to three years. Often structural inspections and repairs are required, the replacement of complex mechanical and electrical systems, nuclear work and new paint or other coatings.

The Illinois, SSN 786, was commissioned in 2016 and stationed at Pearl Harbor in 2017. In late 2023, the ship entered drydock after a seven-month Indo-Pacific deployment that took her about 35,000 nautical miles under the sea. The cost of the work on the boat is estimated at $443 million.

The Colorado, SSN 788, was commissioned in 2018 and was previously homeported in Connecticut. The two-year overhaul at the Pearl Harbor shipyard began in June and is estimated to cost $370 million.

Of the three submarines at the shipyard, the North Carolina, which recently arrived, is the oldest, having been commissioned in 2008. The renovation is expected to cost $465 million.

According to the Navy press office, the North Carolina has deployed to the Pacific three times in the past six years and is nearing maturity.

“North Carolina is approaching the midpoint of her planned life cycle and it is important to conduct repairs and state-of-the-art upgrades to ensure she is combat ready and equipped to perform all assigned missions well into the 2030s,” Cmdr. Tad Robbins, North Carolina’s commanding officer, said in a statement.

The Navy press office also reported that more than 600 workers will be working on the North Carolina each day during peak operations.

The Pearl Harbor Shipyard is the largest industrial employer in the state, with more than 6,000 employees.

The dry dock expansion is expected to create approximately 2,500 jobs until the expected completion date in 2028.

Meanwhile, the Navy continues to expand its inventory of Virginia-class submarines. The first was commissioned, or put into service, in 2004, and about 22 are now in the U.S. fleet. About a dozen more are under construction at a cost of about $4.5 billion each, according to an August report from the Congressional Research Service.

According to the report, the Navy and the Pentagon view the U.S. submarine fleet as one of America’s greatest advantages over adversaries such as China and Russia, and it can be used to deter aggression.

In the Pacific region, China is embroiled in bitter disputes with its neighbors over maritime territorial and navigation rights. One of the disputes is the South China Sea, a busy waterway through which as much as a third of all international trade passes and where tensions have sometimes erupted into violent confrontations.

Despite Chinese objections, the U.S. military has been conducting near-constant “freedom of navigation” operations in the Pacific. These operations are demanding on Navy fleets, and the Pearl Harbor shipyard is increasingly seen as a key repair and logistics hub to keep submarines and ships running.