USS Oklahoma City (SSN-723)
USS Oklahoma City (SSN-723), a Los Angeles-class submarine, is the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The contract to build it was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 13 August 1981 and its keel was laid down on 4 January 1984. It was launched on 2 November 1985 sponsored by Mrs. Linda M. Nickles, and commissioned on 9 July 1988, with Commander Kevin John Reardon in command.
.jpg.webp) USS Oklahoma City (SSN-723) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name: | USS Oklahoma City |
| Namesake: | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Awarded: | 13 August 1981 |
| Builder: | Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia |
| Laid down: | 4 January 1984 |
| Launched: | 2 November 1985 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. Linda M. Nickles |
| Commissioned: | 9 July 1988 |
| Homeport: | Apra Harbor, Guam |
| Motto: | The Sooner, The Better |
| Status: | in active service |
| Badge: |
 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Los Angeles-class submarine |
| Displacement: | |
| Length: | 110.3 m (361 ft 11 in) |
| Beam: | 10 m (32 ft 10 in) |
| Draft: | 9.4 m (30 ft 10 in) |
| Propulsion: | S6G nuclear reactor |
| Speed: |
|
| Complement: | 17 officers, 134 men |
| Sensors and processing systems: | BQQ-5 passive sonar, BQS-15 detecting and ranging sonar, WLR-8 fire control radar receiver, WLR-9 acoustic receiver for detection of active search sonar and acoustic homing torpedoes, BRD-7 radio direction finder |
| Armament: | 4 × 21 in (533 mm) bow tubes, 10 Mk48 ADCAP torpedo reloads, Tomahawk land attack missile block 3 SLCM range 1,700 nautical miles (3,100 km), Harpoon anti–surface ship missile range 70 nautical miles (130 km), mine laying Mk67 mobile Mk60 captor mines |
In 1991, Oklahoma City won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for the Atlantic Fleet.
On 13 November 2002, Oklahoma City collided with the Leif Hoegh liquefied natural gas tanker Norman Lady, east of the Strait of Gibraltar. No one on either vessel was hurt, and there were no leaks of oil from fuel tanks and no threat to the environment, but the submarine sustained damage to its periscope and sail area, and put into La Maddalena, Sardinia, for repairs. Its commanding officer, Commander Richard Voter, was relieved of his command on 30 November. One other officer and two enlisted crew members also were disciplined for dereliction of duty.
On 20 January 2005 Oklahoma City returned to Norfolk, Virginia, after a six-month deployment in support of national security interests and the War on Terrorism. OKC transited to its patrol area in the Pacific Ocean via the Arctic Ocean, the first such transit for a second-flight Los Angeles-class submarine. After the patrol, it then completed a circumnavigation of North America by transiting back to the Atlantic Ocean through the Panama Canal and returning to its home port in Norfolk.
In early 2007, Oklahoma City became the first submarine certified to exclusively use Digital Nautical Charts (DNCs), using the Voyage Management System (VMS). VMS is part of the Electronic Chart Display and Information System-Navy (ECDIS-N) system, which has been under development since 1990. The shift from traditional paper navigation to an all-electronic navigation suite marked the first significant shift in U.S. Navy navigation practices since the introduction of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in the 1990s.
From May to November 2007, Oklahoma City completed a deployment to the Persian Gulf in support of the War on Terror. It spent May to July 2008 in the Eastern Pacific in support of the War on Drugs, and was responsible for seizing more than 11 metric tons of cocaine valued at more than $1.5 billion (USD).
Oklahoma City was awarded the 2008 Squadron Eight Battle "E". On 22 November 2008, Commander Aaron M. Thieme relieved Commander Louis Edward Mayer IV as Commanding Officer.
After a 26-month overhaul, in March 2011 the sub was forward deployed to Guam.[1]
Notes
- Matthews, Laura, "Sub Oklahoma City arrives at Navy Base Guam", Military Times, 3 March 2011, retrieved 4 March 2011.
References
This article includes information collected from the public domain sources Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships and Naval Vessel Register.
External links
Media related to USS Oklahoma City (SSN-723) at Wikimedia Commons