They cut the front end off the USS Honolulu and used it to replace the damaged front end of the San Francisco. Yes, the whole front end of the Frisco was warped and buckled.
One crewman died, and most everyone else was injured in one form or another.
Wow. Sounds like a pretty terrifying experience based on your description and the pictures. I’m fascinated by subs, but the idea of worst case scenarios sound horrible to a claustrophobic like me.
Thanks for the info re: USS Honolulu. I know the ship well. The degree of damage can’t be determined solely by the photo at FR. Some of the bulge may be just the acoustic tiles that you see on the hull. The adhesive bond between the tiles and the hull may have been broken, allowing those tiles to scrunch back, like the paper envelope of a soda straw when you slide it off the straw. The engineers involved in the repair would have found the internal extent of the damage, and then defined the cut lines for the hull, piping systems, and electrical/combat systems, which would not all have been at the same longitudinal point in the hull.
The Navy has some experience on this score...