USS Emory S. Land crew starts maintenance of USS Florida

Sailors from the U.S. Navy’s submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) began maintenance on guided-missile submarine USS Florida (SSGN 728) during a continuous maintenance availability (CMAV) period January 10.

A CMAV is time set aside for maintenance and repairs. A ship or submarine enters a CMAV prior to a certification cycle, when all the unit’s systems are tested and certified to be in good working order. Without the certifications, the ship or submarine would not be able to deploy.

Sailors from the repair department of Emory S. Land are conducting fabrication and maintenance to parts of Florida in support of its CMAV.

Hull Technician 1st Class Evan Schuster, leading petty officer of Emory S. Land’s weld shop, said: “Repairing parts from the sub is something that the Florida personnel can’t do while underway.”

Schuster added that during an availability period like the CMAV it’s easier to have the submarine moor alongside a tender instead of traveling all the way to a shore-based repair facility.

One of the more important jobs conducted by Emory S. Land Sailors was repairing an aft sewage access cover plate which, if left unrepaired, could potentially cause noise underwater and compromise mission security.

Emory S. Land Sailors also replaced brackets on sanitation lines, refurbished and fabricated navigation chairs as well as repaired deck stanchions for life lines.

USS Emory S. Land is a forward deployed expeditionary submarine tender on an extended deployment conducting coordinated tended moorings and afloat maintenance in the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operations.

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