PCU Missouri Arrives At SUBASE NLON

Here's a video of PCU Missouri (SSN 780) arriving at SUBASE NLON in preparation for her commissioning on Saturday morning:



Here's a story about the move. This reminds me of one of the more embarrassing moments of my Navy career, although Missouri had a much better time of it than I did when I was Eng on then-PCU Connecticut (SSN 22). When Connecticut made her first trip up the river to SUBASE from Electric Boat in 1998, we weren't "underway on nuclear power"; we came up the Thames pulled by a tug and with a puppy diesel welded to the deck. This was because Big Navy had forced our CO to sign the transfer documents for delivery of the boat to the Navy despite the fact that the diesel was inoperable (reportedly in order to meet a delivery deadline in the contract so EB could get a big bonus -- those SUPSHIP guys need jobs when they retire!), so NR wouldn't let us start up the reactor without an operational diesel (understandable). As a result, our "triumphant" entry into SUBASE came in the form of a dead-stick move. Humiliating.