_underway.jpg) USS L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) |
| Namesake | L. Mendel Rivers (1905–1970), U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 1st Congressional District (1941–1970) |
| Ordered | 1 July 1969 |
| Builder | Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company |
| Laid down | 26 June 1971 |
| Launched | 2 June 1973 |
| Sponsored by | Margaret Rivers Eastman and Marion Rivers |
| Commissioned | 1 February 1975 |
| Decommissioned | 10 May 2001 |
| Stricken | 10 May 2001 |
| Motto | Rivers Delivers |
| Fate | Scrapping via Ship and Submarine Recycling Program completed 19 July 2002 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Sturgeon-class attack submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 302 ft 3 in (92.13 m) |
| Beam | 31 ft 8 in (9.65 m) |
| Draft | 28 ft 8 in (8.74 m) |
| Installed power | 15,000 shaft horsepower (11.2 megawatts) |
| Propulsion | One S5W nuclear reactor, two steam turbines, one screw |
| Speed |
|
| Test depth | 1,300 feet (400 meters) |
| Complement | 126 (14 officers, 112 enlisted men) |
| Armament | 4 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes |
USS L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine in commission from 1975 to 2001, is the only ship of the United States Navy thus far to have been named for L. Mendel Rivers (1905–1970), a U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 1st Congressional District (1941–1970).