US Subs are losing their sound proofing – making them more susceptible to detection

by Alex Hollings · March 13, 2017

An image of the U.S. Navy’s Virginia class submarine, the USS Mississippi, appeared on the cover of Honolulu’s Star Advertiser earlier this week, as the submarine returned to its home port at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Although the image itself is a pleasant one, depicting the massive nuclear submarine juxtaposed against the serene landscape of the Hawaiian Islands, a closer inspection betrays a serious problem facing America’s fleet of tactical submarines: the sound proofing material is peeling off of the hull of the ship.

Virginia class submarines are the most advanced in the world, boasting a nuclear power source, Tomahawk cruise missiles, and MK48 torpedoes. These submarines are tasked with hunting down and targeting enemy submarines and surface vessels, as well as force projection onto land-based theaters through its supply of cruise missiles. The submarines are stealthy killers with enough firepower to be considered formidable opponents for anything else the world has to offer… but a failure in the glue used to adhere the sound proofing coating that keeps these submarines difficult to detect may be putting our submarine force at risk.

About Alex Hollings

Alex Hollings writes on a breadth of subjects ranging from fitness to foreign policy, all presented through the lens of his experiences as a U.S. Marine, athlete and scholar. A football player, rugby player and fighter, Hollings has spent the better part of his adult life competing in some of the most physically demanding sports on the planet. Hollings possesses a master's degree in communications from Southern New Hampshire University, as well as a bachelor's degree in Corporate and Organizational Communications from Framingham State University.

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Robbie
Those tiles are always been a problem since they were introduced(Late 80s I think I was young then) for all the reasons mentioned. From what I read they thought they had it fixed with the Virginia boats but it was worse than before from what I can tell. We never had the large area of tiles come off just individual ones here and there. As a side note is COs didn't like the way the tiles made the boat look. The tiles were a flat/dull black and you weren't supposed to paint them.
Jerry Sullivan
Alex, yer a news hound. Good find Marine!! A tough environment there in the South Pacific, but this problem should not exist! The Chinese are watching in the wings...
tim e
Think of what that adhesive has to do - the covering is a thick "rubber" that has the consistency of whale blubber. The Virginia class subs speed is classified but lets give 50KTS submerged as a parameter. So we have to hold the tiles on underwater at speeds approaching that of a car on a freeway at what temperatures? From near freezing to the tropics. Then add the movement of the hull - it is not a static substrate, it will be flexing with dive depth, movement from surface conditions and possible impacts. So your crazy, gorilla or hardware glues just wont cut it. Hopefully the guys at NSSC are on this - GO NAVY>>>>>>
George E. Hand IV
But still very real. geo sends
George E. Hand IV
You are spot on, Jim! geo