USS Cheyenne (SSN-773)

Career
Awarded:	28 November 1989
Laid down:	6 July 1992
Launched:	16 April 1995
Commissioned:	13 September 1996
Status:	Active in service as of 2008
Homeport:	Pearl Harbor
General characteristics
Displacement:	6000 tons light, 6927 tons full, 927 tons dead
Length:	110.3 m (362 ft)
Beam:	10 m (33 ft)
Draft:	9.4 m (31 ft)
Propulsion:	one S6G reactor
Speed:	25+ knots
Depth:	1200 feet
Complement:	12 officers, 98 men
Armament:	4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes, 12 vertical launch Tomahawk missiles

USS Cheyenne (SSN-773), the last Los Angeles-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Cheyenne, Wyoming. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 28 November 1989 and her keel was laid down on 6 July 1992. She was launched on 16 April 1995 sponsored by Mrs. Ann Simpson, wife of Wyoming Senator Alan K. Simpson, and commissioned on 13 September 1996, with Commander Peter H. Ozimik in command. Cheyenne transferred to her homeport of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1998. Cheyenne has served as a trials platform for flat-screen, interoperative sonar displays based on commercially-available equipment. Cheyenne was the first ship to launch Tomahawk missiles in Operation Iraqi Freedom under the command of Cmdr. Charles Doty USN. All 22 missles were fired by FT2 (SS) Anthony Goodner. She would go on to successfully launch her entire complement of Tomahawks, earning a "clean sweep" for combat actions in the final three months of a 9 month deployment. The USS Cheyenne was the last Los Angeles class submarine ever built in the Newport News Shipyards. Following the construction of the USS Cheyenne, the new Seawolf class submarine was geared for production. She is not, however, the last 688-class submarine ever built; the USS Greeneville (SSN-772) was actually completed after the Cheyenne, at Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, CT.

In fiction

Cheyenne is the primary subject of the book SSN by Tom Clancy, battling the People's Liberation Army Navy in a fictional war over the Spratly Islands. It is also featured in the video game by Tom Clancy called SSN. In the technothriller novel Quicksilver by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, the Cheyenne was ordered to fire a Tomahawk TLAM Block Four cruise missile, under manual control of Weapons Officer Lt. Miken Marano, at the River Entrance of the Pentagon

References

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register and various press releases.

External links

Maritimequest USS Cheyenne SSN-773 photo gallery