_away_from_its_pier.jpg) USSLa Jolla (SSN-701) departing Pearl Harbor | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSLa Jolla |
| Namesake | The Community ofLa Jolla, California |
| Ordered | 10 December 1973 |
| Builder | General Dynamics Electric Boat |
| Laid down | 16 October 1976 |
| Launched | 11 August 1979 |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. Bob Wilson |
| Commissioned | 24 October 1981 |
| Decommissioned | 15 November 2019 |
| Out of service | 3 February 2015 |
| Homeport | Goose Creek, South Carolina |
| Motto | |
| Status | Currently amoored training ship at the Charleston Nuclear Power Training Unit |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Los Angeles-classsubmarine |
| Displacement | 5774 tons light, 6141 tons full, 367 tons dead |
| Length | 362 ft (110 m) (original), 438 ft (134 m) (as MTS) |
| Beam | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draft | 32 ft (9.8 m) |
| Propulsion | 1 ×S6G reactor, single screw |
| Complement | 12 officers, 98 men |
USSLa Jolla (SSN-701/MTS-701) is aLos Angeles-classsubmarine, named for theLa Jolla community inSan Diego, California. The contract to build her was awarded to theElectric Boat Division ofGeneral Dynamics Corporation inGroton, Connecticut on 10 December 1973 and herkeel was laid down on 16 October 1976. She waslaunched on 11 August 1979 sponsored by Mrs. Jean Bryant Wilson, wife of CongressmanBob Wilson, andcommissioned on 24 October 1981.[1] In 2017,La Jolla was converted to a Moored Training Ship and is currently stationed at NPTU Charleston inGoose Creek, SC.
During the sea trials forLa Jolla, an unexpected depth excursion occurred during a propulsion plant "crash back" test at the direction of AdmiralHyman G. Rickover.[2] In late 1982, about 30 miles out of San Francisco,La Jolla, while atperiscope depth, collided with the submarineUSS Permit, operating on the surface.La Jolla suffered minor rudder damage, while putting a 10-by-3-foot (3.05 m × 0.91 m) scrape in the paint onPermit's keel.La Jolla was the first to successfully test fire aTomahawk cruise missile while submerged at thePacific Missile Test Center on 29 April 1983.
The first West Pacific (West-Pac) cruise was between August 1984 and February 1985, in whichLa Jolla visited ports in Olongapo Philippines, Hong Kong, Chinhae Korea, and Yokosuka, Japan. All crew members participating in the second half of the 1984–85 West-Pac cruise received theNavy Expeditionary Medal for operations in the Sea of Japan.
On 11 February 1998, about 9 miles out ofChinhae, South Korea,La Jolla accidentally ran into and sank a 27-ton fishing trawler. The five crewmembers of the trawler were rescued by the crew ofLa Jolla.[3] In 2000,La Jolla was modified to carry aDry Deck Shelter (DDS).[citation needed] On 23 August 2004,La Jolla returned toPearl Harbor after a six-month deployment in the Pacific Ocean. She conducted port visits inKorea, Japan, Singapore,Saipan, andGuam, and participated in five international exercises, including Pacific Reach 2004.
_undergoing_conversion_to_Moored_Training_Ship_at_Norfolk_Navy_Yard_in_September_2015.JPG)
La Jolla was converted to aMoored Training Ship (MTS) in August 2017 and decommissioned and stricken from theNaval Vessel Register on 15 November 2019. The conversion to a MTS began in February 2015 and completed in late 2019. After a "Fast Cruise" period in the spring of 2020,La Jolla was certified and cleared for student training. The conversion to a MTS was expected to take 32 months according to the commanding officer, however it took much longer. During her time in shipyard, the submarine was cut into three pieces, and a portion of the hull taken out. Three new hull sections from General Dynamics Electric Boat were added to accommodate the sub's new mission. A newly fabricated hull section was welded in place, and the new compartment (OPS, or Operations) contains training spaces, office spaces, and an emergency safeguard system.La Jolla is permanently moored atNuclear Power Training Unit (NPTU) atNaval Support Activity Charleston in South Carolina.[4]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.