USS Chicago (SSN-721)
_returns_from_Desert_Storm.jpg) USS Chicago returning from Desert Storm
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 US | |
| Name | Chicago |
| Namesake | The City of Chicago, Illinois |
| Ordered | 13 August 1981 |
| Builder | Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia |
| Laid down | 5 January 1983 |
| Launched | 13 October 1984 |
| Commissioned | 27 September 1986[1] |
| Homeport | Pearl Harbor |
| Status | in active service |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Los Angeles-class submarine |
| Displacement | list error: <br /> list (help) 5759 tons light, 6162 tons full, 403 tons dead |
| Length | 362 ft (110 m)* |
| Beam | 33 ft (10 m)* |
| Draft | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Propulsion | one S6G reactor |
| Speed | list error: <br /> list (help) Surfaced:20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h) Submerged: +20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h) (official) |
| Complement | 12 officers, 98 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, 12x Vertical Launching System tubes, 27 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 |
USS Chicago (SSN-721) is a Los Angeles-class submarine, the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city of Chicago, Illinois. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 13 August 1981 and her keel was laid down on 5 January 1983. She was launched on 13 October 1984 sponsored by Mrs. Vicki Ann Paisley, wife of Melvyn R. Paisley assistant Secretary of the Navy, and commissioned on 27 September 1986, with Commander Robert Avery in command.
Ship's History
Early in 1996, an RQ-1 Predator aerial reconnaissance drone was successfully controlled from Chicago. The drone reached altitudes up to 6000 meters (20,000 ft) and ranged up to 185 kilometers (100 nmi.) from the submarine, which was operating at periscope depth.
In the summer of 2005, Chicago tested the Virtual Periscope, a system that would allow submerged submarines to observe the surface above them without having to come to a shallower depth, as is required by traditional periscopes. A small camera mounted on the sail of the submarine uses the surface of the ocean as a lens, collecting light from above the surface and refracting it below. High-speed signal processing software assembles an image of what is on the surface. The system's resolution does not allow ship identification, only indicating that something is on the surface. Objects 30 meters (100 feet) tall can be seen at about a distance of 1600 meters (one mile). Sufficient light is available when a camera is shallower than 30 to 60 meters (100 to 200 feet).
On March 15, 2010 the sub's Captain, Commander Jeff Cima, was relieved of command after facing a Admirals's Mast. The mast found that Cima had been drunk and had acted in an "unbecoming" manner during a visit with NROTC midshipmen at Cornell University on March 10, 2010. Cima was temporarily replaced by Captain James Horten.[2]
Awards
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- Navy Unit Commendation
- Meritorious Unit Commendation(3)
- Navy "E" Ribbon Submarine Squadron Battle 'E' (4)
- Navy Expeditionary Medal
- National Defense Medal
- Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
- Southwest Asia Service Medal (2)
- Sea Service Ribbon (3)
- Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia)
- Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)
- Navy Unit Commendation
- One of the 'ships' (barracks) at Recruit Training Command is named after the Chicago.
In Fiction
USS Chicago plays a prominent role in Tom Clancy's novel Red Storm Rising.
USS Chicago is seen deploying elements of Task Force 141 in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 mission "The Only Easy Day... Was Yesterday".
References
- ^ USS Chicago (SSN 721)
- ^ Kakesako, Gregg (19 March 2010). "Fired skipper was drinking with cadets". Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2008) |
Further reading
- Genat, Robin and Genat, Robert. Modern U.S. Naval Submarines. Osceola, WI: MBI Publishing Company, 1997.
External links
- Articles needing cleanup from June 2010
- Articles with sections that need to be turned into prose from June 2010
- Los Angeles class submarines
- Cold War submarines of the United States
- Nuclear ships of the United States Navy
- United States Navy Illinois-related ships
- 1984 ships
- Active submarines of the United States
- Ships built in Newport News, Virginia