USS Chicago (SSN-721)

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

USS Chicago returning from Desert Storm
History
United States
NameChicago
NamesakeThe City of Chicago, Illinois
Ordered13 August 1981
BuilderNewport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia
Laid down5 January 1983
Launched13 October 1984
Commissioned27 September 1986
Decommissioned21 July 2023[1]
Out of service24 January 2023
HomeportNaval Base Kitsap-Bremerton[2]
MottoWe Will
StatusDecommissioned and struck
Badge
General characteristics
Class and typeLos Angeles-class submarine
Displacement
  • 5,759 tons light,
  • 6,162 tons full,
  • 403 tons dead
Length362 ft (110 m)
Beam33 ft (10 m)
Draft31 ft (9.4 m)
Propulsion
  • 1 × S6G PWR nuclear reactor with D2W core (165 MW), HEU 93.5%[3][4]
  • 2 × steam turbines (33,500) shp
  • 1 × shaft
  • 1 × secondary propulsion motor 325 hp (242 kW)
Speed
  • Surfaced:20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h)
  • Submerged: +20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h) (official)
Complement12 officers, 98 men
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
Armament4 × 21 in (533 mm) bow tubes, 12x Vertical Launching System tubes, 27 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

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.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Decom was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "USS Chicago (SSN-721)". nvr.navy.mil. 10 January 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  3. ^ "International Panel on Fissile Materials". fissilematerials.org. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  4. ^ "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.