A catastrophic fire swept the forward sections of the USS Miami, a Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine, while she was in dry dock at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, on May 23, 2012. It later emerged that the blaze, which destroyed large portions of the submarine’s living quarters, command and control center, and torpedo room, had been set by a shipyard worker.
The USS Miami had been commissioned in 1990 with a fine service record, having participated in combat operations for both the 1998 bombing of Iraq, Operation Desert Fox, and the late 1990s’ NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, Operation Allied Force. In these conflicts, her cruise-missile-firing capability gave her the nickname of “Big Gun.”.
Preliminary estimates by the Navy pegged financial damage from the fire at $450 million. But determined to salvage the vessel, the Navy decided to repair the Miami to have her operational again by mid-2015. The cost ballooned to $700 million as repair work progressed, due to budget cuts and other issues.
Confronted with these escalating costs, the Navy finally decided to retire the USS Miami. Towed to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, she had equipment and systems removed from her, and she was en route to a federal repository in Idaho.
The arsonist, 25-year-old shipyard worker Casey James Fury, was arrested, and he subsequently pleaded guilty to two counts of arson. He was then sentenced to 17 years in federal prison, with an order to pay some $400 million in restitution. However, in 2015, Fury claimed that he was innocent, and at the original trial, he was coerced into a false confession because he was in a poor state of mind at that particular time, in which he had anxiety, depression, and addiction.
He’s still locked up in prison, serving his time, despite the claims that Fury made. That was what happened to the USS Miami: the stunning tale of intentional destruction, and how harshly it brought the United States Navy to the forefront of its many struggles in keeping its aging submarine fleet operational.