Groton Connecticut submarine welding hydrogen embrittlement failures

Operational practice case — New London / Groton shipyard electrode-issuance and stub-return protocols. 20 electrodes at a time, 2-hour exposure limit, insulated canisters, mandatory stub return. Also: 85% relative humidity prohibition violated ~200 days/year at east-coast shipyards.

Then we learned in the 1940s, when we were doing welding of ships for World War II, you need to dry out these electrodes by keeping them warm. You go down to New London, or Groton, Connecticut, where they're building nuclear submarines, they will issue you a dozen electrodes or 20 electrodes at a time, and you have to bring back the stubs to prove that you used up all 20 of them. They don't want you carrying around these electrodes for more than two hours at a time, and you may have an insulated little canister that you hold them in to keep them warm and keep the moisture off.

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