USS Pennsylvania (SSBN-735)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Pennsylvania.

USS Pennsylvania (SSBN-735)

USS Pennsylvania (SSBN-735) in November 1995 USS Pennsylvania (SSBN-735) in November 1995.
History
United States
Name:	USS Pennsylvania
Namesake:	Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Ordered:	29 November 1982
Builder:	General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut
Launched:	23 April 1988
Commissioned:	9 September 1989
Homeport:	Bangor, Washington
Identification:	SSBN-735
Motto:	Virtue, Independence, Liberty
Honors and awards:	Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award 2001
Status:	in active service, as of 2024
Badge:	150px
General characteristics
Class & type:	Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine
Displacement:	16,764 metric tons (16,499 long tons) surfaced 18,750 metric tons (18,450 long tons) submerged
Length:	560 ft (170 m)
Beam:	42 ft (13 m)
Draft:	38 ft (12 m)
Propulsion:	1 × S8G PWR nuclear reactor 2 × geared turbines 1 × 325 hp (242 kW) auxiliary motor 1 × shaft @ 60,000 shp (45,000 kW)
Speed:	Greater than 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Test depth:	Greater than 800 feet (240 m)
Complement:	15 officers 140 enlisted
Armament:	MK-48 torpedoes 24 × Trident II D-5 ballistic missiles

USS Pennsylvania (SSBN-735) is a United States Navy Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine that has been in commission since 1989. She is the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Construction and commissioning

The contract to build Pennsylvania was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 29 November 1982 and her keel was laid down there on 10 January 1984. She was launched on 23 April 1988, sponsored by Mrs. Marilyn Garrett, and commissioned on 9 September 1989, with Captain Richard M. Camp commanding the Blue Crew and Captain Lee Edwards commanding the Gold Crew.

Service history

On 29 September 1989, Pennsylvania ran aground as she entered the channel during her first visit to Port Canaveral, Florida. Tugboats freed her in about two hours. A U.S. Navy investigation determined that Pennsylvania was properly positioned in the channel, but the channel had been silted by the recent passing of Hurricane Hugo.

In 2001, Pennsylvania won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for the United States Atlantic Fleet.

In 2009, Pennsylvania was featured in an episode of the British television documentary series Big, Bigger, Biggest.

In 2012, Pennsylvania completed a mid-life 2-1/2 year Engineered Refueling Overhaul (ERO) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard where her reactor was refueled for an estimated 25 more years of service.

On 28 March 2014 Commander John E. Cage relieved Commander Gustavo Gutierrez as Commanding Officer. On 17 April 2015 Commander Andrew Clark took command at a ceremony in Bangor, Washington.

On 14 June 2014, the Gold crew under the command of Commander G. Tiger Pittman, completed a record setting 140 day strategic deterrent patrol. This is the longest strategic deterrent patrol completed since the beginning of the Poseiden C3 missile program in the 1970s.

USS Pennsylvania in fiction

• In Tom Clancy's 1994 novel Debt of Honor, USS Pennsylvania is one of several submarines sent to deal with a Japanese invasion of the Northern Mariana Islands. She becomes the first U.S. nuclear submarine to sink an enemy warship when she fires a torpedo at a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force hunter-killer (SSK)-type submarine.

References

• 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

• Photo gallery of USS Pennsylvania (SSBN-735) at NavSource Naval History