USS Houston (SSN-713)

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Career

Awarded:	1 August 1975
Laid down:	29 January 1979
Launched:	21 March 1981
Commissioned:	25 September 1982
Fate:	Active in service as of 2006.
Homeport:	Apra Harbor, Guam
General Characteristics
Displacement:	5744 tons light, 6103 tons full, 359 tons dead
Length:	110.3 m (362 ft)
Beam:	10 m (33 ft)
Draft:	9.7 m (32 ft)
Propulsion:	one S6G reactor
Complement:	12 officers, 98 men
Motto:	Semper Vigilans (Always Vigilant)

USS Houston (SSN-713), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for Houston, Texas. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 1 August 1975 and her keel was laid down on 29 January 1979. She was launched on 21 March 1981 sponsored by Barbara Bush, wife of then Vice-President of the United States George H. W. Bush. Houston was commissioned on 25 September 1982, with Captain G. H. Mensch in command. Curiously, her hull number matches the area code for the interior portion (inside the Beltway/Sam Houston Tollway, as of 2000) of Metropolitan Houston, which is also 713, but at the time she was built 713 encompassed most of Metro Houston within Harris County.

Houston is an experienced movie actor, initially starring in a Navy recruiting film and then getting her "big break" in June 1989 with a part in The Hunt for Red October (where she played her sister ship Dallas). However, that summer and autumn were plagued with mishaps. In May, before getting involved with the movie, a broken valve caused a depth excursion. Then on 14 June, during the movie shoot, Houston snagged a tow cable, sinking the tugboat Barcona in the San Pedro Channel near Santa Catalina Island, and drowning a tugboat crewmember. Then, two days later, after filming wrapped, Houston was en route to San Diego, California when she was caught in the net of the fishing boat Fortuna. The nets were destroyed, but no injuries were reported.

On 1 July 1989, Houston left port for a training run. A few days into the training schedule, a standard low-pressure ventilation procedure was conducted at periscope depth. Suddenly and unexpectedly, seawater began flooding from the main air vents. The boat took a sharp up-angle and began driving toward the surface, but lost headway to the weight of the water she had taken on and began to slide backward. Seawater reached the battery compartment and chlorine began to rise from the battery well.

The full power of the Houston’s engines restored headway and drove her to the surface. As soon as she broached, however, she lost her up-angle, and the thousands of pounds of water in her bilges rushed forward. The boat pitched forward, taking on a steep down-angle. Pulled by the weight of the water and pushed by the full power of her engines, Houston dove precipitously.

The engines were reversed in a crash-back maneuver and an emergency ballast tank blow was performed. Houston’s plunge slowed, reversed, and she shot up again, this time remaining on the surface.

Houston returned to port after a long and slow surface transit. The main snorkel valve had failed to close properly. An audible signal that would indicate the valve's opening and closing had been disabled. Eight crewmen were transferred from the Houston, but not all were dismissed from the submarine service.

Houston’s troubles were not over. On 1 August, an electrical fire ignited in the engineering spaces. In September, because of a navigation error, the boat had a close call with a torpedo launched from a helicopter in a training exercise. In November, a navigation error caused the loss of the boat's towed sonar array.

Crewmen aboard the boat during her troubles in the late 80s/early 90s called her the boat from hell; some with affection, some not.

In December 1998, Houston was off the coast of southern California during a training exercise when the common discharge flex coupling for the boat's R-12 units ruptured. R-12 is a refrigerant that is used in air-conditioning and refrigeration units and is toxic. The quick actions of the crew allowed the R-12 to be ventilated overboard while the crew were in emergency air-breathing apparatus (EABs) that protected them from the toxic effects of the gas. A quick stores off-load also saved the perishable foods in the refrigeration compartments. A subsequent and similar rupture happened again in late 1999. These flex-coupling weaknesses have been identified as class problems on Los Angeles-class submarines

Houston was awarded the Battle "E" and engineering "E" in 1998 and Tactical "T"'s in 1999 and 2000.

September 2000: Houston lost her anchor while attempting to anchor off the coast of Pattaya Beach, Thailand for a port call. In order for the crew to get a few days of much needed liberty, the crew was divided and took turns steaming the ship around the bay while their counterparts were ashore.

November 2000: Houston had seawater introduced into her high pressure air system through an inproperly capped shore connection header and leakby of several high pressure air valves that allowed seawater to contaminate the system from the shore connection all the way to the high pressure air dryer (HPAD). This affected her ability to stay at sea (due to emergency recovery requirements in maintaining high pressure air) and she subsequently returned to port to decontaminate the system.

In June of 2001 Houston was conducting normal training operations in the Pacific off the coast of Washington state, which included a "crash back" drill, in which the ship goes from ahead flank (maximum forward speed) to back full emergency (maximum engine power in reverse). The maneuver proceeded well, despite the tremendous shaking, noise, and stress the maneuver creates, until the boat began to gain sternway (actually moving backwards through the water).

When a vessel is moving backwards, her rudder and in the case of a submarine, her planes, function in the opposite manner than when she is moving forwards. The stern planesman failed to compensate for this phenomenon, and continued to try to trim the boat as if they still were making headway. When the stern began to rise, he raised the stern planes, which would have depressed the stern if they had been moving forward. While making sternway, it had the opposite effect, increasing the down-angle. The stern continued to rise, more rapidly as the boat accelerated backwards. Before the problem could be corrected, Houston had attained a 70 degree down-angle and her screw broached the surface while still turning at a high rpm. The control team performed a partial emergency ballast tank blow and safely surfaced the boat.

Houston underwent an extensive overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, WA, commencing September of 2001. The upgrades included reactor refueling, as well as navigation, fire control and sonar upgrades. In December of 2004, Houston departed PSNS for her new homeport of Apra Harbor, Guam.

Houston has earned two Navy Unit Commendations and a Meritorious Unit Commendation.