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.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Oklahoma City.

USS Oklahoma City (SSN-723)
History
United States
NameUSS Oklahoma City
NamesakeOklahoma City, Oklahoma
Awarded13 August 1981
BuilderNewport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia
Laid down4 January 1984
Launched2 November 1985
Sponsored byMrs. Linda M. Nickles
Commissioned9 July 1988
Out of service10 February 2022
HomeportApra Harbor, Guam
MottoThe Sooner, The Better
StatusIn Commission, in Reserve (Stand Down), commencement of inactivation availability
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type Los Angeles-class submarine
Displacement
  • 5,782 long tons (5,875 t) light
  • 6,200 long tons (6,299 t) full
  • 418 long tons (425 t) dead
Length110.3 m (361 ft 11 in)
Beam10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Draft9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
Propulsion
  • 1 × S6G PWR nuclear reactor with D2W core (165 MW), HEU 93.5%[1][2]
  • 2 × steam turbines (33,500) shp
  • 1 × shaft
  • 1 × secondary propulsion motor 325 hp (242 kW)
Speed
  • Surfaced:20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h)
  • Submerged: +20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h) (official)
Complement17 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
Armament4 × 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.[3]

Oklahoma City arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, on 22 November 2021 to start her months-long inactivation and decommissioning process.[4]

Notes
  1. "International Panel on Fissile Materials". fissilematerials.org. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  2. "Validation of the Use of Low Enriched Uranium as a Replacement for Highly Enriched Uranium in US Submarine Reactors" (PDF). dspace.mit.edu. June 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  3. Matthews, Laura, "Sub Oklahoma City arrives at Navy Base Guam", Military Times, 3 March 2011, retrieved 4 March 2011.
  4. Farley, Josh (23 November 2021). "USS Oklahoma City submarine makes final voyage to Bremerton, where it will be scrapped". Kitsap Sun. Retrieved 23 November 2021.

References

This article includes information collected from the public domain sources Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships and Naval Vessel Register.

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