USS Greeneville (SSN-772)

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USS Greeneville (SSN-772)
USS Greeneville (SSN-772).jpg
USS Greeneville (SSN-772) off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii carrying the ASDS.
History
Flag of the United States.svgUnited States
Name: USS Greeneville
Namesake: Town of Greeneville
Ordered: 14 December 1988
Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding
Laid down: 28 February 1992
Launched: 17 September 1994
Sponsored by: Tipper Gore
Commissioned: 16 February 1996
Homeport: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, U.S.
Motto:Volunteers Defending Frontiers
Status: in active service
Badge: USS Greeneville SSN-772 Crest.png
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: 362 ft (110 m)
Beam: 33 ft (10 m)
Draft: 31 ft (9.4 m)
Propulsion: 1 × S6G reactor
Complement: 12 officers, 98 men
Armament:
  • 4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
  • 12 × vertical launch Tomahawk missiles

USS Greeneville (SSN-772) is a Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine, and the only vessel of the United States Navy to be named after Greeneville, Tennessee. [1] The contract to build the boat was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, on 14 December 1988, and her keel was laid down on 28 February 1992. She was launched on 17 September 1994, sponsored by Tipper Gore, and commissioned on 16 February 1996.

<i>Los Angeles</i>-class submarine class of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines of the United States Navy

The Los Angeles class boats are nuclear-powered fast attack submarines (SSN) in service with the United States Navy. The submarines are also known as the 688 class, after the hull number of lead vessel USS Los Angeles (SSN-688). They represent two generations and close to half a century of the Navy's attack submarine fleet. As of 2018, 35 of the class are still in commission and 27 are retired from service. Of the 27 retired boats, 12 were laid up half way through their projected lifespans, and another five also laid up early, due to their midlife reactor refueling being cancelled, and one was lost due to a fire. Seven have been scrapped and two are being converted to moored training ships. A further four boats were proposed by the Navy, but later cancelled. The class has more active nuclear submarines than any other class in the world. Submarines of this class are named after American towns and cities, such as Albany, New York; Los Angeles, California; and Tucson, Arizona, with the exception of USS Hyman G. Rickover, named for a US Navy Admiral. This was a change from long-standing tradition of naming attack submarines for creatures of the ocean, such as USS Seawolf or USS Shark.

Attack submarine Submarine designed to destroy other ships

An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants and merchant vessels. In the Soviet and Russian navies they were and are called "multi-purpose submarines". They are also used to protect friendly surface combatants and missile submarines. Some attack subs are also armed with cruise missiles mounted in vertical launch tubes, increasing the scope of their potential missions to include land targets.

United States Navy Naval warfare branch of US Armed Forces

The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most capable navy in the world and it has been estimated that in terms of tonnage of its active battle fleet alone, it is larger than the next 13 navies combined, which includes 11 U.S. allies or partner nations. It has the highest combined battle fleet tonnage and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, and two new carriers under construction. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the U.S. Navy is the third largest of the U.S. military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 290 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of June 2019, making it the third-largest air force in the world, after the United States Air Force and the United States Army.

Contents

Greeneville collided with a Japanese fishing vessel, Ehime Maru, off the coast of Oahu in February 2001.

Namesake

She was named after Greeneville, the home of 17th United States President Andrew Johnson, after local residents, businesses such as Greeneville Metal Manufacturing, which builds submarine components, and government officials began a campaign for a submarine to be named after their town, rather than a large metropolitan area. [2]

Andrew Johnson 17th president of the United States

Andrew Johnson was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. Johnson assumed the presidency as he was vice president of the United States at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. A Democrat who ran with Lincoln on the National Union ticket, Johnson came to office as the Civil War concluded. He favored quick restoration of the seceded states to the Union. His plans did not give protection to the former slaves; he came into conflict with the Republican-dominated Congress, culminating in his impeachment by the House of Representatives. He was acquitted in the Senate by one vote. Johnson's main accomplishment as president is the Alaska purchase.

Boat's history

The Ehime Maru incident

The USS Greeneville at a Hawaiian dry dock in February 2001, following collision. USS Greeneville (SSN 772) - dry dock Pearl Harbor (1).jpg
The USS Greeneville at a Hawaiian dry dock in February 2001, following collision.

On 9 February 2001, while conducting an emergency main ballast tank blow off the coast of Oahu while hosting several civilian "distinguished visitors", mainly donors to the Battleship Missouri Memorial, Greeneville struck the 191-foot (58 m) Japanese fishery high school training ship Ehime Maru (えひめ丸), causing the fishing boat to sink in less than ten minutes with the death of nine crew members, including four high school students. [3] The commander of Greeneville, Commander Scott Waddle, accepted full responsibility for the incident. However, after he faced a court of inquiry, it was decided a full court-martial would be unnecessary and Commander Waddle's request to retire was approved for 1 October 2001 with an honorable discharge.[ citation needed ]

Fishery entity engaged in raising or harvesting fish which is determined by some authority to be a fishery

Generally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising or harvesting fish which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats, purpose of the activities or a combination of the foregoing features". The definition often includes a combination of fish and fishers in a region, the latter fishing for similar species with similar gear types.

Naval Board of Inquiry and Naval Court of Inquiry are two types of investigative court proceedings, conducted by the United States Navy in response to an event that adversely affects the performance, or reputation, of the fleet or one of its ships or stations.

A court-martial or court martial is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment. In addition, courts-martial may be used to try prisoners of war for war crimes. The Geneva Convention requires that POWs who are on trial for war crimes be subject to the same procedures as would be the holding military's own forces. Finally, courts-martial can be convened for other purposes, such as dealing with violations of martial law, and can involve civilian defendants.

The Saipan incident

On 27 August 2001, Greeneville ran aground while entering port in Saipan on a routine Western Pacific deployment. The boat's underside, rudder, and propulsion train suffered minor damage; repairs required drydocking and a significant delay in the remainder of her deployment. The boat's commanding officer, Commander David Bogdan, was relieved of command, and the navigator and assistant navigator were also removed from their duties. In addition, the navigator and the sub's executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Gerald Pfieffer, were found guilty of "hazarding a vessel" during an admiral's mast, conducted by Rear Admiral Joseph Enright, Commander, Submarine Group Seven.

Saipan American island in the Mariana Islands

Saipan is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2017 estimates by the United States Census Bureau, Saipan's population was 52,263.

USS Ogden collision

On 27 January 2002, less than a year after colliding with Ehime Maru and five months after running aground, Greeneville collided with USS Ogden (LPD-5) during a personnel transfer off the coast of Oman, opening a 5 by 18 inch (130 by 460 mm) hole in one of Ogden's fuel tanks and spilling several thousand gallons of fuel. After the collision, both vessels left the area under their own power.

USS <i>Ogden</i> (LPD-5)

USS Ogden (LPD-5), an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Ogden, Utah. Ogden was laid down on 4 February 1963 by the New York Naval Shipyard. She was launched on 27 June 1964 sponsored by Mrs. Laurence J. Burton, and commissioned at New York City on 19 June 1965 with Captain Floyd M. Symons in command.

Oman Arab sultanate in Western Asia

Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is an Arab country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. Its official religion is Islam.

Post-2002 Service

Following the investigation regarding the collision with Ogden, Commander Lindsay R. Hankins was permitted to remain in command of the Greeneville. Despite the fact the Ogden's commanding officer was fired, Hankins went on to have a successful command tour with his XO LCDR Mark D. Pyle. Capt. Hankins went on to be awarded the coveted Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Award for Inspirational Leadership. LCDR Pyle also went on to have the honor of being bestowed with the John Paul Jones award, which recognizes outstanding leadership.[ citation needed ]

The Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Award for Inspirational Leadership is a United States Navy award established in 1980 by United States Secretary of the Navy Edward Hidalgo to honor the inspirational leadership of James Stockdale, a Medal of Honor recipient in the Vietnam War, who exhibited exemplary leadership while a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for nearly eight years. The award were first made in 1981.

John Paul Jones American naval officer

Rear Admiral John Paul Jones was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends and enemies—who accused him of piracy—among America's political elites, and his actions in British waters during the Revolution earned him an international reputation which persists to this day. As such, he is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the American Navy".

On 9 July 2004, when Commander Lorin Selby relieved Hankins as commanding officer of Greeneville, Captain Cecil Haney, Commodore, Submarine Squadron One, stated that "The performance of USS Greeneville during Captain Hankins' tour has been nothing but remarkable. It has been marked by top grades in both tactical and engineering readiness. Lee Hankins was handpicked by our leadership for the job as CO of Greeneville. They got it right." [4] Hankins was selected for promotion to Captain in 2005 and served as Commodore of Submarine Squadron One (COMSUBRON 1) based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Captain Hankins later served as the Chief of Staff for the Commander, Submarine Forces Pacific.

Between 25–27 March 2006, a series of anti-submarine warfare exercises were held in Hawaiian waters that included Greeneville; Carrier Strike Group Nine; the nuclear-powered attack submarines Seawolf, Cheyenne, Tucson, and Pasadena, as well as land-based P-3 Orion aircraft from patrol squadrons VP-4, VP-9, and VP-47. [5] [6]

In October 2007, Greeneville left her home port of Pearl Harbor to conduct a Depot Modernization Period at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, ME. She returned to Pearl Harbor, HI in July 2009. In early 2011, Greeneville returned from a Western Pacific deployment under the command of CDR Carullo.

Awards

Awarded the 2016 "Battle E" award from Submarine Squadron one after a successful western Pacific deployment.[ citation needed ]

See also

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<i>Ehime Maru</i> and USS <i>Greeneville</i> collision ship

On 9 February 2001, about 9 nautical miles (17 km) south of Oahu, Hawaii, the United States Navy (USN) Los Angeles-class submarine USS Greeneville (SSN-772) collided with the Japanese-fishery high-school training ship Ehime Maru (えひめ丸) from Ehime Prefecture. In a demonstration for some VIP civilian visitors, Greeneville performed an emergency ballast-blow surfacing maneuver. As the submarine shot to the surface, she struck Ehime Maru. Within 10 minutes of the collision, Ehime Maru sank. Nine of the thirty-five people on board were killed: four high-school students, two teachers, and three crewmembers.

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References

  1. ↑ "USS Greeneville Skipper Sends Holiday Greetings". The Greeneville Sun. 26 November 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "USS Greeneville (SSN 772)". Navysite.de. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "CNN.com – U.S. sub hits Japanese fishing vessel, 10 missing". 9 February 2001. Archived from the original on 11 April 2005.
  4. ↑ Rush, David. "Former Greeneville Skipper Selected for Vice Adm. James Stockdale Leadership Award". Navy.mil. US Navy. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  5. ↑ 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 24 December 2010.
  6. ↑ "Carrier Strike Group 9 Enters 7th Fleet AOR". NNS060320-11. USS Abraham Lincoln Public Affairs. 20 March 2006. Retrieved 24 December 2010.

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.

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