USS Connecticut, free of bed bugs, heads off to Pacific deployment – Kitsap Sun

BREMERTON The elite submarine USS Connecticut, free from an infestation of bedbugs,recentlyset sail for deployment to the Pacific Ocean.

The Navy announced the submarine, one of three of the Seawolf-class boats, left Sinclair Inlet on May 27.

The boat had been battling an infestation of bedbugs on board but Navy officials told the Kitsap Sun the submarine is free of the insects following eradication efforts.

The USS Connecticut, a Seawolf-class nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine, transits Rich Passage as it heads for Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton in mid-May.(Photo: MEEGAN M. REID/KITSAP SUN)

Some of the crew of more than 100 had complained of bed bugs in late 2020.Navy entomologists found them in the perforated bulkheads between bunks onFeb. 19, the Navy said. Berthing areas were thoroughly cleaned and treated for the insects, and linens, privacy curtains and clothes on board were washed and dried. Some crewmembers slept in vehicles until atemporary structure was opened in the boat's mooring area.

The Navy confirmed the Connecticut was headed to the U.S.3rd Fleetand 7thFleet areas of operation, which encompass the Pacific Ocean. The Navy's Pacific submarine force happens to be conducting an exercise this month known as "Agile Dagger2021," with one-third of subs in the Pacific participating. While the Navy's press release does not mention the USS Connecticut by name, it does say that the exercise includes subs from Bremertonas well as Pearl Harbor and San Diego.

The Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22) departs Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton for deployment on May 27. Connecticut will be conducting maritime operations in the Pacific Ocean.(Photo: Lt. Mack Jamieson, Commander, Submarine Group Nine)

The exercise is held to show the subs can "deploy on short notice to demonstrate their readiness, agility, and lethality."

The Pacific Submarine Force is always ready, said Rear Adm. Jeff Jablon,commander of thePacific Fleet's submarine force. Exercise Agile Dagger 2021 allows us to test our capabilities and showcase our warfighters ability to rapidly deploy armed submarines into the Pacific.

The Connecticut is homeported at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton with sister boat USS Seawolf, itself having returned from a globetrotting deployment in February.Only three of the Seawolf-classsubs, which each cost more than $3 billion to build, were actually completed. Many more had been planned in the days of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, as a way to gain an upper hand. Now, they're once again being relied uponas the Navy and military increaserhetoric of a "Great Power Competition" with China and Russiaand still have capabilities bolder than thoseof the Virginia class, the Navy's newest fast-attack boats.

"With a weapons capacity nearly double that of a Virginia-class sub, the Seawolfs are known as 'fleet killers,'" naval warfare journalist and commentator Chris Cavas said recently onTwitter.

The Seawolf and Connecticut will soon move from Bremerton to the Hood Canal, where they'll join the third of theSeawolf-class boats, the 2005-commissioned USS Jimmy Carter, at a new $89million pier at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor.

The Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22) departs Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton for deployment on May 27. Connecticut will be conducting maritime operations in the Pacific Ocean.(Photo: Lt. Mack Jamieson, Commander, Submarine Group Nine)

Josh Farley is a reporter coveringthe military and health care for the Kitsap Sun. He can be reached at 360-792-9227, josh.farley@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter at@joshfarley.

Read or Share this story: https://www.kitsapsun.com/story/news/2021/06/07/uss-connecticut-free-bed-bugs-heads-off-pacific-deployment/7590860002/

More:
USS Connecticut, free of bed bugs, heads off to Pacific deployment - Kitsap Sun