In December 1967, The USS George C. Marshall SSBN-654 came along side the Canopus with a hugh gash in the forward starboard side. The repairs were going to be greatly complicated, as the floating dry dock at Rota, the Oak Ridge, was itself undergoing repairs in Cadiz. The officers and men of the Canopus then pulled off an amazing engineering feat. That began an around-the-clock effort ot build a Coffer Dam, so that repairs to the hull can be made.