USS Asheville (SSN-758)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Awarded: | 26 November 1984 |
| Laid down: | 9 January 1987 |
| Launched: | 24 February 1990 |
| Commissioned: | 28 September 1991 |
| Status: | Active in service as of 2006. |
| Homeport: | San Diego, California |
| Unofficial Motto: | Evil is our Middle Name |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 6000 tons light, 6927 tons full, 927 tons dead |
| Length: | 110.3 m (362 ft) |
| Beam: | 10 m (33 ft) |
| Draft: | 9.4 m (31 ft) |
| Propulsion: | one S6G reactor |
| Complement: | 20 officers, 150 men |
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USS Asheville (SSN-758), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for Asheville, North Carolina. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 26 November 1984 and her keel was laid down on 9 January 1987. She was launched on 24 February 1990 sponsored by Mrs. Dorothy Helms, and commissioned on 28 September 1991, with Commander Patrick Casey in command.
Asheville is fitted with a developmental Advanced Mine Detection System (AMDS) high-frequency active sonar array with transmitters and receivers in the sail and in a disc-shaped chin sonar dome beneath the hull at the bow. The system is used for target detection, mine avoidance, and bottom navigation.
In December 1996, Asheville served as a trials platform for the Northrop Grumman Sea Ferret reconnaissance drone. After Asheville simulated an underwater launch, a Cessna 206 test aircraft flew over the area of operations with the Sea Ferret attached to its underside. Technicians aboard Asheville transmitted commands to the Sea Ferret, which were received and responded to by the Cessna pilot. Control of the drone was then passed back and forth among the Asheville team, a United States Marine Recon team, and an United States Army Aviation team, all three users continuing to receive a continuous flow of sensor data.
On 1 April 2005 Asheville returned to San Diego, California, after a six-month deployment to the western Pacific to perform national security missions and take part in two international exercises. During the deployment, she made port calls at Guam, Singapore, Japan, Saipan, and Hawaii.
Eighteen months later, on 1 August 2006, she departed San Diego to return to the western Pacific.
See USS Asheville for other ships of the same name.
[edit] Asheville in fiction
- In Tom Clancy's novel Debt of Honor, the Asheville is destroyed by a Japanese submarine during a training exercise.
[edit] References
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register and various press releases.
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