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USS Newport News (SSN-750)
Encyclopedia
USS Newport News (SSN-750), a , was the third ship of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
to be named for Newport News, Virginia
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern 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...
.
Construction
The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock CompanyNorthrop Grumman Newport News
Newport News Shipbuilding , originally 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, Virginia
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern 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...
on 19 April 1982 and her keel was laid down on 3 March 1984. She was launched
Ship naming and launching
The 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. Trible
Paul S. Trible, Jr.
Paul 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 commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship 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. Rattley
Jessie M. Rattley
Jessie Menifield Rattley served as the mayor of Newport News, Virginia from 1986 to 1990.-Life and career:Rattley obtained a degree from distance learning school La Salle Extension University. She was the first African-American to be elected to the Newport News City Council in 1970...
presented the ship with a commemorative plaque containing the poem "Newport News," written by Newport News native Ronald W. Bell, whose poem "Admiral Rickover
Hyman G. Rickover
Hyman George Rickover was a four-star admiral of the United States Navy who directed the original development of naval nuclear propulsion and controlled its operations for three decades as director of Naval Reactors...
" 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, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, following a six-month overseas deployment that included operations in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. In support of Operation Iraqi Freedom she launched 19 UGM-109C Tomahawk land Attack Missiles in March of 2003. 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 SeaArabian Sea
The 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 the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
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 carrier
Aircraft carrier
An 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 worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
. The Carrier Strike Group was redeploying to the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
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 Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
under her own power.
An official of the Kawasaki Kisen Company (or K Line
K Line
, also referred to as "K" Line, is a very large Japanese shipping company. It owns and/or controls large cargo ships, including dry cargo ships, container ships, container terminals, 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 effect
Venturi effect
The Venturi effect is the reduction in fluid pressure that results when a fluid flows through a constricted section of pipe. The Venturi effect is named after Giovanni Battista Venturi , an Italian physicist.-Background:...
. 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 Agency
Fars News Agency
Fars News Agency is a news agency in Iran. While it describes itself as "Iran's leading independent news agency", news organizations such as CNN and Reuters describe it as a "semi-official" news agency 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
K Line
, also referred to as "K" Line, is a very large Japanese shipping company. It owns and/or controls large cargo ships, including dry cargo ships, container ships, container terminals, gas carriers, RoRo ships and tankers....
, the company that owns Mogamigawa an undisclosed amount in compensation for the collision.