USS Cheyenne (SSN-773)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Cheyenne.
Career (US)
Name: USS Cheyenne
Namesake: The City of Cheyenne, Wyoming
Awarded: 28 November 1989
Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Laid down: 6 July 1992
Launched: 16 April 1995
Sponsored by: Mrs. Ann Simpson, wife of Wyoming Senator Alan K. Simpson
Christened: 1 April 1995
Commissioned: 13 September 1996
Homeport: Pearl Harbor
Status: in active service, as of 2015
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:Los Angeles-class submarine
Displacement:6,000 long tons (6,096 t) light
6,927 long tons (7,038 t) full
927 long tons (942 t) dead
Length:110.3 m (361 ft 11 in)
Beam:10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Draft:9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
Propulsion:S6G nuclear reactor
Speed:25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)+
Test depth:800 ft (244 m)+
Complement:12 officers, 98 men
Armament:
  • 4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
  • 12 × vertical launch Tomahawk missiles

USS Cheyenne (SSN-773), the last Los Angeles-class submarine, is the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Cheyenne, Wyoming. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 28 November 1989 and her keel was laid down on 6 July 1992. She was launched on 16 April 1995 sponsored by Mrs. Ann Simpson, wife of Wyoming Senator Alan K. Simpson, and commissioned on 13 September 1996, with Commander Peter H. Ozimik in command. Cheyenne transferred to her homeport of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1998.

Cheyenne has served as a trials platform for flat-screen, interoperative sonar displays based on commercially available equipment.

Cheyenne was the first ship to launch Tomahawk missiles in Operation Iraqi Freedom[1] under the command of CDR Charles Doty. Cheyenne would go on to successfully launch her entire complement of Tomahawks, earning a "clean sweep" for combat actions in the final three months of a nine-month deployment. This dubbed her "First To Strike". Her motto is "Ride the Legend".

USS Cheyenne was the final Los Angeles–class submarine built by Newport News Shipyards. Following the construction of the USS Cheyenne, Newport News began preparation for construction of the Virginia-class submarine.

Operations

Between 25 and 27 March 2006, a series of anti-submarine warfare exercises were held in Hawaiian waters that included the Cheyenne; Carrier Strike Group Nine, the nuclear-powered attack submarines Seawolf, Greeneville, Tucson, and Pasadena, as well as land-based P-3 Orion aircraft from patrol squadrons VP-4, VP-9, and VP-47.[2][3]

In fiction

Cheyenne is the primary subject of the book SSN by Tom Clancy, battling the People's Liberation Army Navy in a fictional war over the Spratly Islands. She is also featured in the video game by Tom Clancy called SSN.

In the technothriller novel Quicksilver by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, the Cheyenne was ordered to fire a Tomahawk TLAM Block Four cruise missile, under manual control of Weapons Officer Lt. Miken Marano, at the River Entrance of the Pentagon.

In To the Death by Patrick Robinson, the Cheyenne is tasked with shadowing an Iranian Kilo on a path through the Mediterranean Sea.

References

  1. Chief Journalist David Rush (28 April 2003). "One of Navy's First Tomahawk Shooters of Operation Iraqi Freedom Returns to Pearl Harbor".
  2. Photographer’s Mate Airman Tim Roache and Journalist 2nd Class Michael Cook (17 March 2006). "Lincoln Carrier Strike Group Conducts Undersea Warfare Training". NNS060317-06. USS Abraham Lincoln Public Affairs. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
  3. "Carrier Strike Group 9 Enters 7th Fleet AOR". NNS060320-11. USS Abraham Lincoln Public Affairs. 20 March 2006. Retrieved 2010-12-24.

External links