USS Augusta (SSN-710)

USS Augusta (SSN-710), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for Augusta, Maine. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 31 October 1973 and her keel was laid down on 1 April 1983. She was launched on 21 January 1984 sponsored by Mrs. Diana D. Cohen, wife of U.S. Senator William Cohen[2] and commissioned on 19 January 1985.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Augusta.

USS Augusta (SSN-710)
History
United States
Namesake: Augusta, Maine
Awarded: 10 December 1973
Builder: General Dynamics Corporation
Laid down: 1 April 1983
Launched: 21 January 1984
Acquired: 5 December 1984
Commissioned: 19 January 1985
Decommissioned: 11 February 2009
Stricken: 11 February 2009
Homeport: Groton, Connecticut
Motto: Protecting The Frontier Since 1754 "Any Mission, Any Time"
Nickname(s): "Gussie"
Honors and
awards:		 Arctic Service, Navy Expeditionary, Battle "E", Navy Unit Commendation, Global War On Terrorism Expeditionary, Global War On Terrorism Service, Sea Service
Fate: To be disposed of by submarine recycling
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type: Los Angeles-class submarine
Displacement: 5,786 tons light, 6,927 tons full, 378 tons dead
Length: 110.3 m (361 ft 11 in)
Beam: 10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Draft: 9.7 m (31 ft 10 in)
Propulsion: S6G nuclear reactor
Speed:
  • Surfaced:20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h)
  • Submerged: +20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h) (official)
Complement: 15 officers, 115 enlisted
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[1]
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
Service record
Operations: Iraq War (2003)

1986 collision

The Soviet Navy claims that on 3 October 1986, Augusta collided with the 667AU Nalim (Yankee-I) class ballistic missile submarine K-219, commanded by Igor Britanov, off the coast of Bermuda.[3] The U.S. Navy states that K-219 was disabled by an internal explosion.

CBS news reported that Augusta "very possibly" collided with a Soviet submarine.[4]

The Department of Defense reported that Augusta required $2.7 million worth of repairs due to damage in an undersea collision while on a routine training patrol.[4] On 31 October 1986 Augusta entered dry-dock at Electric Boat to have her sonar dome replaced and the repairs were completed on 13 December 1986.[5]

Later service

In July 1987, Augusta began service as a trials boat for the BQG-5D Wide Aperture Array (WAA) passive sonar system and carrying the prototype BQQ-10 ARCI sonars, which incorporate off-the-shelf computer components, allowing easy introduction of modular upgrades.

In 2003, Augusta was part of a small group of submarines participating in Tomahawk Strikes against Iraq in the opening of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The boat successfully launched missiles against all assigned missions leaving the theater with 100% completion.

Augusta underwent extensive maintenance during 2006 to prepare for six-month deployment in 2007, which began in March and completed in September. Augusta changed her homeport to Norfolk Naval Shipyard, where she began decommissioning in January 2008, and completed the disassembly of her reactor on 24 November 2008.

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References

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.

  1. Polmar, Norman "The U. S. Navy Electronic Warfare (Part 1)" United States Naval Institute Proceedings October 1979 p.137
  2. "SSN-710". uscarriers.net. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  3. Huchthausen, Peter A.; Kurdin, Igor; White, Robin A. (1997). Hostile Waters. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312169282.
  4. Arkin, William; Handler, Joshua (June 1989), Neptune Paper No. 3: Naval Accidents 1945 - 1988 (PDF), Washington, D.C.: Greenpeace/Institute for Policy Studies, p. 70, retrieved 15 November 2017
  5. "USS AUGUSTA SSN 710". 9 November 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
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