USS Newport News (SSN-750), a , was the third ship of the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
to be named for
Newport News, VirginiaNewport News is an independent city in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It is at the south-western end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News Point on the...
.
The contract to build her was awarded to
Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock CompanyNorthrop Grumman Shipbuilding Newport News , formerly called Northrop Grumman Newport News or Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , was the largest privately-owned shipyard in the United States prior to being purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001...
in
Newport News, VirginiaNewport News is an independent city in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It is at the south-western end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News Point on the...
on 19 April 1982 and her keel was laid down on 3 March 1984. She was
launchedThe ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 15 March 1986 sponsored by
Mrs. Rosemary D. TriblePaul Seward Trible, Jr. is a former Representative and Senator in the United States Congress from Virginia and current president of Christopher Newport University. Trible graduated from Hampden-Sydney College in 1968 where he received his Bachelor of Arts in History...
, and
commissionedShip commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 3 June 1989 with Commander Mark B. Keef in command. Mayor
Jessie M. RattleyJessie Menifield Rattley served as the mayor of Newport News, Virginia from 1986 to 1990. She was the first African-American to be elected to the Newport News City Council in 1970. Her election was seen as a major turning point in the civil rights movement for residents in Newport News...
presented the ship with a commemorative plaque containing the poem "Newport News," written by Newport News native Ronald W.
USS Newport News (SSN-750), a , was the third ship of the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
to be named for
Newport News, VirginiaNewport News is an independent city in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It is at the south-western end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News Point on the...
.
Construction
The contract to build her was awarded to
Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock CompanyNorthrop Grumman Shipbuilding Newport News , formerly called Northrop Grumman Newport News or Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , was the largest privately-owned shipyard in the United States prior to being purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001...
in
Newport News, VirginiaNewport News is an independent city in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It is at the south-western end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News Point on the...
on 19 April 1982 and her keel was laid down on 3 March 1984. She was
launchedThe ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 15 March 1986 sponsored by
Mrs. Rosemary D. TriblePaul Seward Trible, Jr. is a former Representative and Senator in the United States Congress from Virginia and current president of Christopher Newport University. Trible graduated from Hampden-Sydney College in 1968 where he received his Bachelor of Arts in History...
, and
commissionedShip commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 3 June 1989 with Commander Mark B. Keef in command. Mayor
Jessie M. RattleyJessie Menifield Rattley served as the mayor of Newport News, Virginia from 1986 to 1990. She was the first African-American to be elected to the Newport News City Council in 1970. Her election was seen as a major turning point in the civil rights movement for residents in Newport News...
presented the ship with a commemorative plaque containing the poem "Newport News," written by Newport News native Ronald W. Bell, whose poem "
Admiral RickoverHyman George Rickover , was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy who invented the nuclear submarine. Rickover was known as the "Father of the Nuclear Navy", which as of July 2007 had produced 200 nuclear-powered submarines, and 23 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and cruisers, though many...
" also appears upon a plaque aboard the
Los Angeles class submarine . The poem appears on this page with permission from the author:
-
- "Newport News"
- Harbor of a thousand ships
- Forger of a nation's fleet
- Gateway to the New World
- Where ocean and river meet
- Strength wrought from steel
- And a people's fortitude
- Such is the timeless legacy
- Of a place called Newport News.
Initial operations
Newport News returned to
Norfolk, VirginiaNorfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 234,403 as of the 2000 census, it is Virginia's second-largest incorporated city behind its eastern neighbor, Virginia Beach....
, following a six-month overseas deployment that included operations in the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. She deployed in August 2004, first to take part in joint operations with allied navies in the North Atlantic, then to the U.S. Central Command area of operations "in support of national security interests and the global war on terrorism."
Collision with Japanese ship
On 8 January 2007,
Newport News was operating submerged in the
Arabian SeaThe Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui, the north-east point of Somalia, Socotra, Kanyakumari in India, and the western coast...
south of the Straits of Hormuz when it hit the Japanese tanker
Mogamigawa. She had been operating as part of Carrier Strike Group 8 (CSG-8), organized around the
aircraft carrierAn aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power great distances without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
. The Carrier Strike Group was redeploying to the
Indian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by South Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean...
to support a maritime cordon during the war in Somalia when the incident happened. The
Newport News suffered damage to her bow, but there was no damage to the sail, mast or reactor, and she made for port in
BahrainThe Kingdom of Bahrain is a small island country in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain via the King Fahd Causeway, which was officially opened on the 25th of November 1986. Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of...
under her own power.
An official of the Kawasaki Kisen Company (or
K Line, also referred to as "K" Line, is a very large Japanese shipping company which moves Japanese cargo around the world. It owns and/or controls large cargo ships, including dry cargo ships, container ships, gas carriers, RoRo ships and tankers....
), which owns the tanker, announced that
Mogamigawas hull and propellers were damaged.
According to a Navy spokesman, the collision occurred as a result of the
venturi effectThe Venturi effect is the reduction in fluid pressure that results when a fluid flows through a constricted section of pipe. The fluid velocity must increase through the constriction to satisfy the equation of continuity, while its pressure must decrease due to conservation of energy: the gain in...
. The tanker drove over the area where the submarine was submerged and this created a sucking effect that forced the submarine upward to the surface.
The incident was the third collision between a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine and a Japanese civilian ship.
On 29 January, after the boat returned to Bahrain for repairs, administrative personnel actions (Admiral's Mast) were taken against several members of her crew, which included relieving the boat's commanding officer, Commander Matthew A. Weingart, of command due to a lack of confidence in his ability to command.
On 10 April the Iranian
Fars News AgencyFars News Agency is a news agency in Iran. While it describes itself as "Iran's leading independent news agency", organizations such as the BBC describe it as a "semi-official" news agency , i.e. with ties to the government...
reported that the
Newport News has been leaking radioactive and chemical pollution in the Persian Gulf and claimed that following this formal complaint, the ship departed the gulf for a complete overhaul.
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. On 2 October 2007 the U.S. Navy agreed to pay
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd, also referred to as "K" Line, is a very large Japanese shipping company which moves Japanese cargo around the world. It owns and/or controls large cargo ships, including dry cargo ships, container ships, gas carriers, RoRo ships and tankers....
, the company that owns
Mogamigawa an undisclosed amount in compensation for the collision.
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