Submarines in History - The Los Angeles Class

On January 8 1972 - The keel for the first Los Angeles class submarine was laid at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock, Company, Newport News, VA.

USS Los Angeles (SSN-688) on her last deployment in 2009 (U.S. Navy photo)

The Los Angeles class was designed almost exclusively for Carrier Battlegroup escort; they were fast, quiet, and could launch Mk48 torpedoes, Harpoon Anti-Ship Missiles (no longer carried), and both land attack and anti-ship (no longer carried) Tomahawk cruise missiles. The submarines showed another step improvement in quieting and an increase in operating speed to allow them to support the CVBG. Escort duties included conducting ASW sweeps hundreds of miles ahead of the CVBG and conducting attacks against the SAG.

A total of 62 Los Angeles class submarines were built and 43 are still on active duty with the U.S. Navy. The class was divided into three groups: Group I (SSN 688 - 718) is the original design, Group II (SSN 719 - 750) added 12 vertical launch tubes for the Tomahawk cruise missile, and Group III (SSN 751 - 773), also known as 688I (I for Improved), are quieter, incorporate an advanced sonar suite combat system and are configured for under-ice operations (their forward diving planes have been moved from the sail structure to the bow and the sail has been strengthened for breaking through ice).

All submarines in the Los Angeles class, except for USS Hyman G. Rickover (SSN-709), are named after U.S. cities, breaking a long-standing Navy tradition of naming attack submarines after sea creatures.

Also on January 8 2005, - the Los Angeles class submarine USS San Francisco (SSN-711) collided with an undersea mountain 350 miles south of Guam. The submarine experienced a rapid deceleration from approximately 35 knots, causing everything not attached to the submarine to go flying forward and a section of the bow to cave in.

MM2(SS) Joseph Ashley

Machinist Mate 2nd Class Joseph Allen Ashley, 24, of Akron, OH, died of injuries suffered in the accident, which occurred when the submarine was on a high speed run to Brisbane, Australia. Around 60 other sailors were also injured in the accident, some seriously. The submarine returned to Guam, where temporary repairs were completed, and then the submarine transited to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for permanent repairs by way of replacing the ship's forward compartment. San Francisco's captain, Commander Kevin Mooney, was later relieved of command after an investigation revealed that the ship was using inadequate voyage planning techniques.

Damage to USS San Francisco's bow (U.S. Navy photo)

On 10 October 2008, San Francisco undocked after a successful bow replacement at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The dry-docking project involved cutting more than one million pounds off the forward ballast tanks and sonar sphere of the former USS Honolulu (SSN-718) and attaching it to San Francisco. After the completion of repairs and sea trials in April 2009, San Francisco shifted homeport to Naval Base Point Loma, San Diego, California.