USS Alexandria (SSN-757) | |
History | |
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United States | |
Name | USS Alexandria |
Namesake | Alexandria, Virginia, and Alexandria, Louisiana |
Awarded | 26 November 1984 |
Builder | General Dynamics Electric Boat |
Laid down | 19 June 1987 |
Launched | 23 June 1990 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. Myrtle "Tookie" Clark [1] |
Acquired | 13 June 1991 |
Commissioned | 29 June 1991 |
Homeport | Naval Base Point Loma |
Motto | Twice as Strong [2] |
Status | in active service |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Los Angeles-class submarine |
Displacement |
|
Length | 362 ft (110 m) |
Beam | 33 ft (10 m) |
Draft | 31 ft (9 m) |
Propulsion | |
Speed | |
Range | Refueling required after 30 years [8] |
Test depth | Greater than 757 ft (231 m) [2] |
Complement | 16 officers, 127 enlisted according to https://www.csp.navy.mil/alexandria/About/ |
Sensors and processing systems | BQQ-10 passive sonar, BQS-15 detecting and ranging sonar, WLR-8 fire control radar receiver, WLR-9 acoustic receiver for detection of active search sonar and acoustic homing torpedoes, BRD-7 radio direction finder [9] |
Electronic warfare & decoys | WLR-10 countermeasures set [9] |
Armament | 4 21 in (533 mm) bow tubes, 10 Mk48 ADCAP torpedo reloads, Tomahawk land attack missile block 3 SLCM range 1,700 nmi (3,148 km; 1,956 mi), Harpoon anti–surface ship missile range 70 nmi (130 km; 81 mi), mine laying Mk67 mobile mine & Mk60 captor mines |
Notes | The third ship of the United States Navy to be named for both Alexandria, Virginia, and Alexandria, Louisiana |
USS Alexandria (SSN-757), is a Los Angeles class nuclear-powered attack submarine and the third vessel of the United States Navy to be named for both Alexandria, Virginia, and Alexandria, Louisiana. [2] The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation on 26 November 1984. Her keel was laid down in Groton, Connecticut, on 19 June 1987. [10] She was launched on 23 June 1990, sponsored by Mrs. Myrtle "Tookie" Clark, wife of Vice Admiral Glenwood Clark (ret.), and commissioned on 29 June 1991. [1] Alexandria was placed in service on 22 March 1991. A series of sea trials began 16 April and were completed 4 June. [1]
Alexandria, together with the guided-missile cruiser USS Cowpens (CG-63), guided-missile frigate USS Gary (FFG-51), and P-3C Orion maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, participated in Exercise Malabar 2004, a training exercise with the Indian Navy off the southwest coast of India that ended on 11 October 2004.
In March 2007 Alexandria was participating in the joint U.S. Navy/Royal Navy Ice Exercise 2007 (ICEX-2007), conducted in the Arctic Ocean with the Trafalgar-class submarine HMS Tireless (S88). The exercise took place on and under a drifting ice floe, about 180 nmi (330 km; 210 mi) off the north coast of Alaska. The two submarines were taking part in joint testing of submarine operability and tactical development in Arctic waters. On 21 March 2007, Tireless experienced an explosion of a self-contained oxygen generation candle, she suffered only superficial damage, but two crew members were killed and one injured. [11]
On 19 August 2016, Navy machinist mate Kristian Saucier, 29, was sentenced by a U.S. District Court judge in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to one year in prison plus six months house arrest for taking and possessing six cell phone photos of Alexandria's classified propulsion system while working in her engine room in 2009. Invoking the so-called "Clinton defense," his attorneys had argued for leniency by citing the FBI's decision not to charge Hillary Clinton for similar crimes of mishandling classified information related to her use of a private email server. [12] On 5 September 2017, having received an other-than-honorable discharge from the Navy, Saucier was released from jail. [13]
Some scenes for the movie Stargate: Continuum were filmed on board Alexandria. The then-captain of Alexandria, Commander Mike Bernacchi, and members of his crew played themselves. The ship was also used as a filming location for the JAG and NCIS TV series, although she was referred to there as the fictional USS Cathedral City. [14]
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The submarine was traveling in excess of 33 knots -- about 35 mph --when its nose hit the undersea formation head-on, officials said.
The 18 SSN-688 class submarines that will be refueled at their mid-life could make good candidates for a service life extension because they could operate for nearly 30 years after the refueling. After these submarines serve for 30 years, they could undergo a 2-year overhaul and serve for one more 10-year operating cycle, for a total service life of 42 years.