The Navy is sitting on roughly 600 pages of documents related to the USS Thresher (SSN-593) sinking that a federal judge ordered released, unable to comply because the office charged with processing their release is shuttered due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Following a  https://news.usni.org/2020/02/11/judge-orders-navy-to-release-uss-thresher-disaster-documents" rel="nofollow - February court hearing in U.S. District Court , a judge ordered the Navy’s Undersea Warfare Division (OPNAV N97) to start handing Thresher-related records to retired Navy Capt. James Bryant, a former Thresher-class submarine commander. He has for years researched Thresher’s sinking.

The Navy has rebuffed his requests by Bryant to review Thresher-related documents – the vast majority of which the Navy declassified in 2012. In July, Bryant sued the Navy to honor his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to review hundreds of Thresher-related documents.

However, according to a court-mandated status report filed Wednesday, N97 officials state the records review is now on indefinite hold. During the COVID-19 outbreak, N97 staff is limited to telework and accomplishing mission-essential tasks supporting undersea forces and operations, according to the Navy’s court-mandated status report filed Wednesday.

“OPNAV N97 does not have the personnel or resource to process the requested document at this time. However, OPNAV N97 is continuing to monitor the COVID-19 crisis and will return to the review and process of Plaintiff’s FOIA request once the office is able to expand beyond mission-essential capabilities,” the Navy stated in the status report.

When N97 resumes processing Bryant’s FOIA request, the Navy intends to use reservists to help speed up the pace in which documents are released, according to the status report.