Over the past year, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery prepared facilities and provided a temporary duty workforce to Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Conn., for extensive work on Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Albany (SSN 753).
The Kittery team was in Groton last week to help “undock” the sub, a step that marks the completion of its docking period.
The event was a significant milestone in the yard’s maintenance and modernization availability, according to a news release.
“Despite the inherent challenges of executing an off-yard availability, compounded by multiple winter storms, the teaming demonstrated by the crew of Albany and the shipyard workforce drove through every obstacle, completing Albany’s docking period ahead of schedule,” said Capt. Jesse Nice, the shipyard’s commander.
The Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Conn., is separate from General Dynamics’ Electric Boat submarine yard, which is down the New Thames River from the naval operation.
400 deployed
Albany arrived at the Groton base last summer and underwent repairs, structural inspections and replacements of mechanical and electrical systems, designed to enhance its capabilities, modernize critical systems and equip sailors with an advanced undersea platform.
A team from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard spent much of 2025 coordinating with the base to prepare facilities and support a large temporary duty workforce. At the project’s peak, more than 400 personnel from the shipyard were deployed to Groton.
Completion of a sub’s docking period is the first step in its return to the fleet.
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard repairs and services the U.S. submarine fleet. Located on a 300-acre complex on Seavey Island in the Piscataqua River, the yard employs nearly 7,500 civilians. It’s one of four such Navy-operated facilities in the country and the second-oldest, founded in 1800.
Most of the shipyard’s civilian workforce hails from Maine, with 4,252 employees, up from 4,194 in 2023, according to the most recent economic analysis from 2024.
