USS San Francisco (SSN-711)

History
Name: USS San Francisco
Namesake: The City and County of San Francisco, California
Awarded: 1 August 1975
Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding
Laid down: 26 May 1977
Launched: 27 October 1979
Acquired: 7 April 1981
Commissioned: 24 April 1981
Homeport: Norfolk, Virginia[1]
Motto:
  • Oro en Paz, Fierro en Guerra
  • ("Gold in Peace, Iron in War")
Fate: conversion as moored training ship
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type: Los Angeles-class submarine
Displacement: 5,759 tons light, 6,145 tons full, 386 tons dead
Length: 110.3 m (361 ft 11 in)
Beam: 10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Draft: 9.7 m (31 ft 10 in)
Propulsion: S6G nuclear reactor
Complement: 12 officers, 115 men
Armament: 4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes

USS San Francisco (SSN-711) is a Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine, the third ship or boat of the United States Navy to be named for San Francisco, California.

History

Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia was awarded the contract to build USS San Francisco on 1 August 1975, and her keel was laid down on 26 May 1977. She was launched on 27 October 1979, sponsored by Mrs. Robert Y. Kaufman, and commissioned on 24 April 1981 with Commander J. Allen Marshall in command.

San Francisco joined Submarine Force US Pacific Fleet following an initial shakedown cruise, and moved to her homeport at Pearl Harbor. She completed deployments in 1982, 1983, 1985, and 1986 with the U.S. Seventh Fleet and various independent operations in the Pacific in 1986, earning the Battle Efficiency "E" for Submarine Squadron Seven in 1985. She earned a Navy Unit Commendation and a second Battle Efficiency "E" for Submarine Squadron Seven, and her crew was awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal for independent operations in 1988.

San Francisco entered a Depot Modernization Period at Pearl Harbor from 1989 to 1990 and then went on to conduct deployments to the Western Pacific in 1992 and 1994. The submarine was awarded the 1994 Commander Submarine Squadron Seven "T" for excellence in tactical operations and a Meritorious Unit Commendation for the 1994 Western Pacific deployment.

On 18 December 2002, San Francisco arrived at her new homeport at Apra Harbor, Guam.

The submarine has been homeported at Naval Base Point Loma, San Diego, California since 2009.[2]

Collision with seamount

On 8 January 2005 at 02:43 GMT, San Francisco collided with an undersea mountain about 675 kilometers (364 nautical miles, 420 statute miles) southeast of Guam while operating at flank (maximum) speed at a depth of 525 feet (160 m).[3] The collision was so serious that the vessel was almost lost; accounts detail a desperate struggle for positive buoyancy to surface after the forward ballast tanks were ruptured. Ninety-eight crewmen were injured, and Machinist's Mate Second Class Joseph Allen Ashley, 24, of Akron, Ohio died from head injuries on 9 January.[4] Other injuries to the crew included broken bones, lacerations, and a back injury. San Francisco’s forward ballast tanks and her sonar dome were severely damaged, but her inner hull was not breached and there was no damage to her nuclear reactor. She surfaced and arrived in Guam on 10 January, accompanied by the USCGC Galveston Island (WPB-1349), USNS GYSGT Fred W. Stockham (T-AK-3017), and USNS Kiska (T-AE-35), as well as MH-60S Knighthawks and P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft. The Navy stated that there was "absolutely no reason to believe that it struck another submarine or vessel." Later, an examination in drydock showed unmistakably that she had struck an undersea mountain which had only vague references on available charts.

San Francisco in drydock at Guam, January 2005.
Damage to bow sonar, 2005
San Francisco in a drydock in Guam during her temporary repairs for her voyage to Puget Sound, May 2005.
Commander Kevin Mooney

San Francisco’s captain Commander Kevin Mooney was reassigned to a shore unit in Guam during the investigation of this collision. The Navy concluded that "several critical navigational and voyage planning procedures" were not being implemented aboard San Francisco, despite Mooney's otherwise remarkably good record. Consequently, the Navy relieved Mooney of his command and issued him a letter of reprimand. Six crewmen received non-judicial punishment hearings ("Captain's Mast") for hazarding a vessel and dereliction of duty, and they were reduced in rank and given letters of reprimand. Twenty other officers and men received awards for their actions in the crisis, including letters of commendation, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal.

The seamount that San Francisco struck did not appear on the chart in use at the time of the accident, but other charts available for use indicated an area of "discolored water", an indication of the probable presence of a seamount. The Navy determined that information regarding the seamount should have been transferred to the charts in use—particularly given the relatively uncharted nature of the ocean area that was being transited—and that the failure to do so represented a breach of proper procedures.

San Francisco had recently replaced her nuclear fuel and she was thus expected to remain in service until 2017, so the Navy determined that repair of the submarine was in its best interests. Temporary repairs were made in Guam to provide watertight integrity and forward buoyancy so that the boat could safely transit to another location for more extensive repairs. San Francisco steamed to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) in Washington via Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where she arrived on 26 August 2005.[5]

In June 2006, it was announced that San Francisco’s bow section would be replaced at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard with the bow of USS Honolulu (SSN-718), which was soon to be retired. San Francisco is four years older than Honolulu, but she had been refueled and upgraded in 2000–2002. The cost of her bow replacement has been estimated at $79 million, as compared with the estimated $170 million to refuel and overhaul the nuclear reactor of Honolulu.[6]

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 of forward ballast tanks and sonar sphere off the former USS Honolulu and attaching them to San Francisco.[7] San Francisco completed repairs and sea trials in April 2009, then shifted homeport to Naval Base Point Loma, San Diego, California.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Derek, Stroop (7 November 2016). "USS San Francisco Holds Change of Command, Farewell Ceremony" (Press release). United States Navy.
  2. ↑ Robbins, Gary (3023-12-28), Submarine San Francisco leaves on deployment, U-T San Diego, retrieved 2014-04-10 Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ↑ Doehring, Thoralf, USS San Francisco (SSN 711), Thoralf Doehring, retrieved 2014-04-10
  4. ↑ Martin, David (2005). "Who's To Blame For Sub Accident? – Retraceing Events That Led To USS San Francisco Crash". 60 Minutes. CBS News. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
  5. ↑ Munsey, Christopher (2005-09-01), "Sub repaired on Guam headed for Puget Sound", E-Edition, Pacific Daily News (Guam), Navy Times, retrieved 2014-04-10
  6. ↑ Pone, Hodges (2006-12-14), "USS Honolulu Holds Final Change of Command Ceremony", Fleet Public Affairs Detachment Northwest, United States Navy, retrieved 2014-04-10
  7. ↑ "USS San Francisco Undocks With New Bow". Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility Public Affairs. United States Navy. 2008-10-20. Retrieved 2014-04-10.

This article includes information collected from the public domain sources Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships and Naval Vessel Register.

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