Crews at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard are beginning maintenance work on the USS California, the nuclear-powered submarine that arrived over the weekend.
The vessel looks like a 7,800 ton torpedo, and can navigate shallow as well as deep waters. The submarine is designed to attack other ships and undertake special operations, intelligence, reconnaissance and mine warfare missions.
The US Navy calls the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard its “Center of Excellence” for repairing and maintaining fast attack nuclear submarines like the USS California.
115 enlisted personnel also arrived on the $2.3 billion vessel. The maintenance is expected to take four to seven weeks.