USS Groton (SSN-694)

Career
Name: USS Groton
Awarded: 31 January 1971
Builder: General Dynamics Corporation
Laid down: 3 August 1973
Launched: 9 October 1976
Commissioned: 8 July 1978
Decommissioned: 7 November 1997
Fate: To be disposed of by submarine recycling
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:Los Angeles class submarine
Displacement:5,780 tons light
6,143 tons full
363 tons 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:D1G nuclear reactor, 2 turbines, 35,000 hp (26 MW), 1 auxiliary motor 325 hp (242 kW), 1 shaft
Speed:15 knots (28 km/h) surfaced
32 knots (59 km/h) submerged
Test depth:290 m (950 ft)
Complement:12 Officers; 98 Enlisted
Armament:4 × 21 in (533 mm) bow tubes
For other ships of the same name, see USS Groton.

USS Groton (SSN-694), the seventh Los Angeles class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Groton, Connecticut. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 31 January 1971 and her keel was laid down on 3 August 1973. She was launched on 9 October 1976 sponsored by Mrs. Elliot L. Richardson, and commissioned on 8 July 1978, with Commander R. William Vogel, III in command and Master Chief Petty Officer Joseph Pow as Chief of the Boat.

Groton departed on its first overseas deployment in March 1980 to the Indian Ocean. The submarine made its way back to the homeport of Groton, CT by way of the Panama Canal. Groton completed the Around-the-World Cruise in October 1980.

Groton was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 7 November 1997. Ex-Groton is scheduled to enter the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program in Bremerton, Washington.

References

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register as well as various press releases and news stories.