Maintenance completed on submarine USS Connecticut

Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Maintenance work on the submarine USS Connecticut was completed this week, the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard announced.

The vessel entered dry dock on Mar. 26 and left it on Aug. 10 after its period of maintenance and modernization, formally known as a docking continuous maintenance availability.

Finishing touches were added Thursday, when the submarine was ready for release. Shipyard personnel invested over 30,200 man-days in the project, officials said.

"Maintaining and modernizing warships and returning them to active service is what we're all about, so this is yet another important milestone for our shipyard," said Capt. Dianna Wolfson, commander of PSNS.

The USS Connecticut, commissioned in 1998, is a Seawolf-class, nuclear-powered fast attack submarine. In 2003, it surfaced through ice in the Arctic Ocean near Alaska, where it notably came under attack by a polar bear. The bear gnawed on the vessel's rudder before leaving.

Following a six-month deployment in 2007, it was transferred to its new home port of Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton Wash., the last of the Navy's three Seawolf-class submarines to arrive and join the Pacific fleet.

"Our team, which includes PSNS and IMF [Intermediate Maintenance Facility] employees, ship's force and contractors, did a tough job very well, and I couldn't be more proud of their efforts to send Connecticut back to the fleet in tip-top shape, ready for whatever the nation requires of it," Wolfson said.