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2004 was a hard year for the crew of the USS San Francisco (SSN
711). They had come out of drydock for some major work earlier
that year. Machinery was often breaking down and the crew had a
hard schedule to keep. Early mornings and late nights, weekends
became "normal working days". The crew slogged through
Pomcert, the boat-wide test to ensure she was fully capable of war
time operations. They conducted extensive at-sea training and
endurance trials, at sea for almost 60 days with only a three day
respite in the middle. They wrestled through two Operational
Reactor Safeguards Examinations (ORSE), on one of which they
achieved an "Excellent", the highest ranking. CDR Kevin G.
Mooney, Captain, USS San Francisco, had transformed the boat
from a "Dry Dock Queen" to the "Best Damn Boat" in the Navy.
In the past several years, the San Francisco had only been to one
Liberty Port. As a reward for their hard work and enormous effort,
the submarine was scheduled to visit Brisbane, Australia for a week
of liberty.
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