USS Augusta (SSN-710)

History
United States
Namesake	Augusta, Maine
Awarded	10 December 1973
Builder	General Dynamics Corporation
Laid down	1 April 1983
Launched	21 January 1984
Acquired	5 December 1984
Commissioned	19 January 1985
Decommissioned	11 February 2009
Stricken	11 February 2009
Homeport	Groton, Connecticut
Motto	Protecting The Frontier Since 1754 "Any Mission, Any Time"
Nickname(s)	"Gussie"
Honors and awards	Arctic Service, Navy Expeditionary, Battle "E", Navy Unit Commendation, Global War On Terrorism Expeditionary, Global War On Terrorism Service, Sea Service
Fate	To be disposed of by submarine recycling
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Los Angeles-class submarine
Displacement	5,786 tons light, 6,927 tons full, 378 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
Speed	Surfaced:20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h) Submerged: +20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h) (official)
Complement	15 officers, 115 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems	BQQ-5 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[1]
Armament	4 × 21 in (533 mm) bow tubes, 10 Mk48 ADCAP torpedo reloads, Tomahawk land attack missile block 3 SLCM range 1,700 nautical miles (3,100 km), Harpoon anti–surface ship missile range 70 nautical miles (130 km), mine laying Mk67 mobile Mk60 captor mines
Service record
Operations:	Iraq War (2003)

USS Augusta (SSN-710), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for Augusta, Maine. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 31 October 1973 and her keel was laid down on 1 April 1983. She was launched on 21 January 1984 sponsored by Mrs. Diana D. Cohen, wife of U.S. Senator William Cohen and commissioned on 19 January 1985.

1986 collision

The Department of Defense reported that Augusta required $2.7 million worth of repairs due to damage in an undersea collision while on a routine training patrol.^[2] On 31 October 1986 Augusta entered dry-dock at Electric Boat to have her sonar dome replaced and the repairs were completed on 13 December 1986.

The Soviet Navy claims that on 3 October 1986, Augusta collided with the 667AU Nalim (Yankee-I) class ballistic missile submarine K-219, commanded by Igor Britanov, off the coast of Bermuda.^[3] The U.S. Navy states that K-219 was disabled by an internal explosion.^{[citation needed]}

CBS news reported that Augusta "very possibly" collided with a Soviet submarine.^[2]

Later service

In July 1987, Augusta began service as a trials boat for the BQG-5D Wide Aperture Array (WAA) passive sonar system and carrying the prototype BQQ-10 ARCI sonars, which incorporate off-the-shelf computer components, allowing easy introduction of modular upgrades.^{[citation needed]}

In 2003, Augusta was part of a small group of submarines participating in Tomahawk Strikes against Iraq in the opening of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The boat successfully launched missiles against all assigned missions leaving the theater with 100% completion.^{[citation needed]}

Augusta underwent extensive maintenance during 2006 to prepare for six-month deployment in 2007, which began in March and completed in September. Augusta changed her homeport to Norfolk Naval Shipyard, where she began decommissioning in January 2008, and completed the disassembly of her reactor on 24 November 2008.^{[citation needed]}