Atlas, a huge floating dry dock which will be used to launch the U.S. Navy’s new Columbia-class submarines, has been delivered to General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB).
As per a GDEB social media post, at the start of this month the huge structure — which stands 30 yards tall, is 206 yards long and just over 46 yards wide — arrived at its facility in Groton, Connecticut.
Constructed by Bollinger Shipyards in Louisiana, the floating dry dock will be used to roll out and launch completed Columbia-class boats from the facility’s South Yard Assembly Building (SYAB).
As per the GDEB post: “Typically, Atlas will stand 60’ above the adjacent deck, which is about 40% of the height of the SYAB. When in operation, the dry dock will travel along the south face of the SYAB and align to either of the assembly bays.”
The bow section of the future USS District of Columbia, the last block of the first of the fleet’s next-generation ballistic missile submarines, was completed late last year at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia and delivered to GDEB during November.
In total 12 of the nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed boats are planned; they are intended to replace the U.S. Navy’s Ohio-class submarines. At 171 metres, they will be a similar length to their predecessors, but a metre wider, with a beam of about 13 metres.
They will displace almost 21,000 tons and carry 16 Trident D5 nuclear missiles. Each boat is projected to cost an average of over $10 billion to build; the lead boat is currently scheduled to be completed in 2030 and to enter active service the following year.
- You can read more details about Atlas on the Bollinger website