USS Newport News
USS Newport News, in October 2004
History
United States
NameUSS Newport News
NamesakeThe City of Newport News, Virginia
Awarded19 April 1982
BuilderNewport News Shipbuilding
Laid down3 March 1984
Launched15 March 1986
Commissioned3 June 1989
HomeportGroton, Connecticut
Identification
Motto
  • Magni Nominis Umbra
  • (Latin:"Under the shadow of a great name")
Statusin active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and typeLos Angeles-class submarine
Displacement
  • 5,700 long tons (5,791 t) light
  • 6,072 long tons (6,169 t) full
  • 1,372 long tons (1,394 t) dead
Length110.3 m (361 ft 11 in)
Beam10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Draft9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
Propulsion
  • 1 × S6G PWR nuclear reactor with D2W core (165 MW), HEU 93.5%[1][2]
  • 2 × steam turbines (33,500) shp
  • 1 × shaft
  • 1 × secondary propulsion motor 325 hp (242 kW)
Speed
  • 25 knots (46 km/h) surfaced
  • 30 knots (56 km/h) submerged (actual top speed classified)
Test depth290 m (950 ft)
Complement13 officers; 121 enlisted
Armament

USS Newport News (SSN-750), a Los Angeles-class submarine, is the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Newport News, Virginia. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 19 April 1982 and her keel was laid down on 3 March 1984. She was launched on 15 March 1986 sponsored by Mrs. Rosemary D. Trible, and commissioned on 3 June 1989. Mayor Jessie M. Rattley presented the ship with a commemorative plaque containing the poem "Newport News," written by Newport News native Ronald W. Bell, whose poem "Admiral Rickover" also appears upon a plaque aboard the Los Angeles-class submarine Hyman G. Rickover.

Collision with Japanese ship

On 8 January 2007, Newport News was operating submerged in the Arabian Sea south of the Straits of Hormuz when the submarine hit Japanese tanker Mogamigawa.[3] She had been operating as part of Carrier Strike Group 8 (CSG-8),[4] organized around the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69). The Carrier Strike Group was redeploying to the Indian Ocean to support a maritime cordon during the war in Somalia when the incident happened.[5] Newport News suffered damage to her bow, but there was no damage to the sail, mast or reactor, and she made for port in Bahrain under her own power.[6] Newport News was escorted from the mouth of the Straits of Hormuz to Bahrain by the Guided Missile Destroyer Benfold. This was due to the fact that the submarine was unable to transit submerged and has no surface defense capabilities. During the transit, Iranian aircraft and warships shadowed the ships. An official of the Kawasaki Kisen Company (or K Line), which owns the tanker, announced that Mogamigawa's hull and propellers were damaged.[7]

According to a Navy spokesman, the collision occurred as a result of the venturi effect. The tanker passed over the area where the submarine was submerged and this created a sucking effect that forced the submarine upward to the surface.[8] The incident was the third collision between a US nuclear-powered submarine and a Japanese civilian ship.[9]

On 29 January, after the boat returned to Bahrain for repairs, administrative personnel actions, also known as Admiral's Masts, were taken against several members of her crew, which included relieving the boat's commanding officer of command due to a lack of confidence in his ability to command.[10]

On 10 April the Iranian Fars News Agency reported that Newport News has been leaking radioactive and chemical pollution into the Persian Gulf and claimed that following this formal complaint, the ship departed the gulf for a complete overhaul.[11] The US Navy Fifth Fleet denied this claim restating that damage was limited to the bow and that the sail, mast and reactors were not damaged.[12] On 2 October 2007 the US Navy agreed to pay Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd, the company that owns Mogamigawa an undisclosed amount in compensation for the collision.[13]

Gallery

References

  1. ^ "International Panel on Fissile Materials". fissilematerials.org. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  2. ^ "Validation of the Use of Low Enriched Uranium as a Replacement for Highly Enriched Uranium in US Submarine Reactors" (PDF). dspace.mit.edu. June 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  3. ^ U.S. sub collides with Japan ship, CNN, 8 January 2007.
  4. ^ "Eisenhower Strike Group Completes JTFEX 06-2". Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
  5. ^ DeYoung, Karen (8 January 2007). "U.S. Strike in Somalia Targets Al-Qaeda Figure". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  6. ^ Dorsey, Jack (9 January 2007). "Navy sub damaged in collision heads for port in Bahrain". The Virginian-Pilot. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
  7. ^ "Japan's tanker sustains hull breach, propeller damage". Information Telegraph Agency of Russia. 11 January 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
  8. ^ Dorsey, Jack (10 July 2007). "Navy says speed of tanker sucked submarine up to surface". The Virginian-Pilot. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
  9. ^ Kiroku Hanai (23 January 2007). "U.S. presence vs. the public will". The Japan Times.
  10. ^ "USS Newport News Commanding Officer Relieved of Duty". WTKR Newschannel 3. 29 January 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2007.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ "US Submarine Forced to Leave Persian Gulf". Fars News Agency. 10 April 2007. Retrieved 11 April 2007. (Note that the image accompanying the FARS article is not a Los Angeles class submarine.)
  12. ^ "U.S. withdraws damaged sub said by Iran to leak radiation into Gulf". World Tribune. 13 April 2007. Archived from the original on 20 January 2008. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
  13. ^ "U.S. Navy to pay for hitting tanker". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. 3 October 2007.

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.

External links

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Los Angeles-class submarines
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