Portsmouth Naval Shipyard’s Pump House is an essential part of enabling boat movement and maintaining a dry environment for the production workforce to do their best work in modernizing the U.S. Navy’s nuclear powered attack submarines.
This distinctive round granite structure is run by the dry dock shop which is part of the temporary service department. The dry dock shop consists of industrial equipment mechanics (IEMs) who are responsible for operating and maintaining all facility equipment.
“It’s amazing to see how the whole team is able to take a giant tube and float it into the dock with seamless effort,” said Christopher Spofford, mechanic. The dry dock shop operates with a small amount of personnel, who are dually qualified as mechanics and electricians to operate and maintain the equipment. They undergo rigorous training, which includes standard shipyard-wide training, but also specialized shop training covering electrical systems, mechanical systems, and operational procedures for all equipment related to the pump house and dry docks.
There is a sense of pride and enthusiasm among those working in the dry dock shop. “I remember my first time watching the super flood testing of dry dock 1 and the two location evolutions,” said IEM Josh Olson. “I even got to drive the direct current pumps.”
Built in 1906, this unique design has a copper roof that opens to allow access to the pumps below. The original pump motors were designed by Thomas Edison and were direct current powered, where you had to flip a switch to operate the pumps. In the early 1990’s the facility was upgraded with new equipment, and an updated power distribution system. This new system is equipped with communications and in the event of a system failure, alarms are activated and personnel responds to the incident.
The dry dock team is heavily involved in the evolution of docking and undocking submarines and provides day-and-night monitoring to ensure the dock remains dry to safely and efficiently accomplish project work. In addition to the pump well, docks, and caissons, the dry dock shop also operates and maintains several other systems.
James Fecteau, dry dock general foreman, is very proud of the dedication and teamwork his crew displays. “This team, the pumps, caissons and docks, all make it possible for PNSY to continue maintaining the highest level of workmanship and return submarines to defend our Navy’s mission.”
