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 was homeported at Naval Base Point Loma, San Diego, California in 2009.[3]
Grounding with seamount
On 8 January 2005 at 02:43 GMT, San Francisco suffered a collision with an undersea mountain about 364 nautical miles (675km) southeast of Guam while operating at flank (maximum) speed at a depth of 525 feet (160m).
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 9January.[6] Other injuries to the crew included broken bones, spinal injury, and lacerations.
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.[4]:294
San Francisco in drydock at Guam, January 2005.San Francisco in a drydock in Guam during her temporary repairs for her voyage to Puget Sound, May 2005.
San Francisco's captain Commander Kevin Mooney was reassigned to a shore unit in Guam during the investigation of the collision. The Navy concluded that "several critical navigational and voyage planning procedures" were not being implemented aboard SanFrancisco, 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 for hazarding a vessel and dereliction of duty, and they were reduced in rank and given letters of reprimand.
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.
Nonetheless, a subsequent study by UMass Amherst indicated that the Navy's charts did not contain the latest data relevant to the crash site because the geographical area was not a priority for the Defense Mapping Agency.[7][8] Moreover, a subsequent report "found that the (submarine's parent) squadron and the group could have done more to prepare the ship for sea." Specifically, it determined that the submarine's squadron "did not take adequate action to correct previously identified deficiencies in open ocean navigation onboard SFO," and did not provide adequate oversight of San Francisco's navigation performance. Additionally, "The report also notes the document known as a 'Subnote' from the Group, which laid out a path and average speed, was delivered to the ship two-and-a-half days before San Francisco sailed, and the Group's own requirements are that it be to the ship three to five days before sailing." Ultimate responsibility for navigational safety rests with the ship's captain and crew, not the Subnote; however, "The report found that the Subnote did route the San Francisco through the area where it hit the seamount."[9][4][pageneeded]
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. SanFrancisco steamed to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) in Bremerton, Washington via Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where she arrived on 26August 2005.[10]
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 USSHonolulu, which was soon to be retired. SanFrancisco 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 $79million, as compared with the estimated $170million to refuel and overhaul the nuclear reactor of Honolulu.[11]
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 onemillion pounds (450 tonnes) of forward ballast tanks and sonar sphere off the former USS Honolulu and attaching them to SanFrancisco.[12]San Francisco completed repairs and sea trials in April 2009, then shifted homeport to Naval Base Point Loma, San Diego, California.
Final deployment and conversion
San Francisco returned to Point Loma from her sixth deployment in October 2016. Her change of command and farewell ceremony was held on 4 November 2016, after which she was homeported to Norfolk for conversion to a moored training ship (MTS) at the Navy's Nuclear Power Training Unit in Charleston, South Carolina.[13] On 11 May 2017, the ship was placed in "'In Commission Special' – stand down for MTS conversion", a 32-month long process that was expected to begin in early 2018. The conversion was completed in mid-2021 and on 16 August she was moved from Norfolk to Charleston.[14] She was decommissioned on 15 May 2022.[1]
USS Annapolis (SSN-760), is the tenth "improved" Los Angeles-class submarine. Annapolis is the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for Annapolis, Maryland, site of the United States Naval Academy.
USS Omaha (SSN-692), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Omaha, Nebraska. 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 27 January 1973. She was launched on 21 February 1976 sponsored by Mrs. Victoria Kuncl Hruska, wife of Senator Roman L. Hruska, and commissioned on 11 March 1978.
USS Louisville (SSN-724), a Los Angeles-class submarine, is the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for Louisville, Kentucky. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 11 February 1982 and her keel was laid on 24 September 1984. She was launched on 14 December 1985—sponsored by Mrs. Betty Ann McKee, wife of Admiral Kinnaird McKee, Director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion —and commissioned on 8 November 1986 with Captain Charles E. Ellis in command.
USS Hawkbill (SSN-666), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the hawksbill, a large sea turtle. The name perpetuated the inadvertent misspelling of "hawksbill" in the naming of the first ship of that name, USS Hawkbill (SS-366), a Balao-class submarine launched in 1944. USS Hawkbill (SSN-666) was the eighteenth of 39 Sturgeon-class nuclear-powered submarines that were built.
USS Haddock (SSN-621), was the last Thresher/Permit-class submarine to be built. She was also the third ship of the United States Navy to be named after the haddock, a large species of fish.
USS Guardfish (SSN-612), a Thresher-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the guardfish, a voracious green and silvery fish with elongated pike-like body and long narrow jaws.
USS Plunger (SSN-595), a Permit-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named "plunger", meaning a diver or a daring gambler.
USS Haddo (SSN-604), a Permit-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the haddo, a pink salmon fish prevalent on the Pacific coast of the United States and Canada.
USS Flasher (SSN-613), a Permit-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the flasher, a member of the fish family Lobotidae, which have an unusual placement of the second dorsal and anal fins, posteriorly located on the body, close to the tail.
USS Portsmouth (SSN-707) is a decommissioned Los Angeles-class submarine. She was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
USS Connecticut (SSN-22) is a Seawolf-class nuclear powered fast attack submarine operated by the United States Navy. Connecticut is the fifth active United States Ship to be named for the U.S. state of Connecticut, going back to 1776. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 3 May 1991 and her keel was laid down on 14 September 1992. She was launched on 1 September 1997, sponsored by Patricia L. Rowland, wife of the Governor of Connecticut, John G. Rowland, and commissioned on 11 December 1998.
USS William H. Bates (SSN-680), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was planned to be the second U.S. Navy ship to be named USS Redfish—for the redfish, a variety of salmon —when the contract to build her was awarded to Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on 25 June 1968. However, upon the 22 June 1969 death of William H. Bates (1917–1969), the U.S. representative from Massachusetts's 6th congressional district (1950–1969) known for his staunch support of nuclear propulsion in the U.S. Navy, she was renamed William H. Bates and was laid down on 4 August 1969 as the only ship of the U.S. Navy to have borne the name. The reason for her naming by then-Secretary of the Navy John Chafee, breaking with a long-standing Navy tradition of naming U.S. Navy attack submarines for sea creatures, was best summed up by Admiral Hyman Rickover, the then-director of the Navy's nuclear reactors program, with the pithy comment that, "Fish don't vote!"
USS Pintado (SSN-672), a short hull Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the pintado, a large mackerel-like fish, whose elongated spots suggested the Spanish language word meaning "painted."
USS Tautog (SSN-639), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the tautog, a wrasse commonly found along the Northern Atlantic coast. The submarine was in service from 17 August 1968 to 31 March 1997.
USS Puffer (SSN-652), a Sturgeon-class nuclear attack submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the pufferfish, a saltwater fish with toxic spines that can inflate its body with water or air and is one of the most poisonous vertebrates in the world.
USS Drum (SSN-677), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the drum, also known as the croaker or hardhead, any of various fishes of the Sciaenidae family, capable of making a drumming noise and best known on the Atlantic coast of North America.
USS Buffalo (SSN-715) was a Los Angeles-class submarine, the second vessel that actively served the United States Navy to be named for Buffalo, New York. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 23 February 1976, and her keel was laid down on 25 January 1980. She was launched on 8 May 1982 sponsored by Mrs. Joanne Kemp, wife of former Buffalo Bills quarterback and New York's 31st congressional district representative Jack Kemp, who was credited with winning approval to name the ship after the city in his district. Buffalo was commissioned on 5 November 1983, with Commander G. Michael Hewitt in command. Buffalo was decommissioned on 30 January 2019 after 35 years of service.
USS Honolulu (SSN-718), was a Los Angeles-class submarine, and the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Honolulu, Hawaii. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 15 September 1977 and her keel was laid down on 10 November 1981. She was launched on 24 September 1983 sponsored by Mrs. Joan B. Clark, and commissioned on 6 July 1985, with Commander Robert M. Mitchell in command.
USS Chicago (SSN-721) is a Los Angeles-class submarine, the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city of Chicago, Illinois. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 13 August 1981 and her keel was laid down on 5 January 1983. She was launched on 13 October 1984 sponsored by Mrs. Vicki Ann Paisley, wife of Melvyn R. Paisley assistant Secretary of the Navy, and commissioned on 27 September 1986. The Chicago was retired in 2023.
USS Emory S. Land (AS-39) is a United States Navy submarine tender and the lead ship of her class. She was named for Admiral Emory S. Land.
References
1 2 "San Francisco". nvr.navy.mil. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
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