Electric Boat to Lay Off Nearly 500 Employees

The Navy’s decision not to fix the USS Miami will cause the layoff of nearly 500 employees at Electric Boat, according to a report in The Day. 

More than 350 people were hired at EB recently to complete the work on USS Miami, which was damaged in a fire at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard last May.  Cost estimates for repairs went from $450 million to $700 million and at that point, the Navy decided to take the nuclear submarine out of the fleet. 

The Day writes that 94 electrician, electronics mechanics, shipfitters, temporary service technicians and welders will be laid off Oct. 18 and EB will issue notices to about 460 people over the next four months. 

Although EB and Newport News Shipbilding in Virginia jointly build two attack submarines a year, Rear Adm. Richard Breckenridge told reporters that the Navy was looking for other projects to give to EB to dampen the impact to the workforce. 

Click here to read the full report in The Day.