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- Sailors aboard the nuclear-powered submarine USS Connecticut say the ship is bug-infested.
- The sailors claim the Navy did not do enough to stop the bedbugs.
- Connecticut is one of three Seawolf-class submarines and one of the most powerful submarines in the world.
Imagine racing through the oceans trapped in a steel pipe that is 350 feet long and 40 feet wide. You eat, sleep and work in the tube with 110 other people who all do their part to prepare the ship for war and prevent the ship from sinking to the bottom of the ocean and hitting an underwater mountain. It’s a stressful, difficult place to be for months.
Now add bugs.
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For most of last year, USS Connecticut sailors said their submarine had suffered a serious bug infestation and the U.S. Navy had not done enough to prevent it. The sailors told the Navy Times that they had been complaining about the bugs since March 2020. However, according to Popular Military, the Navy didn’t report the problem until December 2020, and the service didn’t find bugs on board until February 2021.
The Navy says it tackled the infestation properly, but the sailors claim the service took inadequate measures and used them as “live bait” to determine if the insects were still present after the measures. The sailors claim their commandos did not believe their first report of the infestation, and the service’s attempts to dampen bunks and use pesticides failed to kill the pests.
Bedbugs are small, parasitic insects that feed on human blood. The beetles usually live in mattresses and bedding, a problem that is exacerbated in a submarine where two sailors take turns sleeping in the same room.
The insects were largely killed in the USA after the invention of the pesticide DDT. In recent years, however, the errors have gradually returned. Since the US banned DDT for environmental reasons in 1972, there have been few simple and effective treatments to kill the insects. (Bedbugs are now DDT-resistant anyway.)
The Connecticut is one of three Seawolf-class submarines that many experts consider to be the most capable attack submarines in the world. The hulls of the Seawolf submarines are made from an advanced HY-100 steel alloy and are reportedly capable of diving up to 2,000 feet.
The ships are reportedly up to 70 times quieter than their predecessor, the Los Angeles class, and have eight torpedo tubes and carry up to 50 guided torpedoes.
As capable as Connecticut is, the bedbugs – and the Navy’s response – reportedly caused morale on board the ship to plummet. It shows you can spend $ 3 billion on a single submarine, but if you don’t handle bedbug infestation, you won’t get your money’s worth off the ship.
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