| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Awarded: | 13 August 1981 |
| Laid down: | 5 January 1983 |
| Launched: | 13 October 1984 |
| Commissioned: | 27 October 1986 |
| Fate: | Active, in commission |
| Homeport: | Pearl Harbor |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 5759 tons light, 6162 tons full, 403 tons dead |
| Length: | 110.3 meters (362 feet) |
| Beam: | 10 meters (33 feet) |
| Draft: | 9.4 meters (31 feet) |
| Propulsion: | one S6G reactor |
| Complement: | 12 officers, 98 men |
USS Chicago (SSN-721), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for 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 launchedThe ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old. A Babylonian narrative dating from the 3rd millennium BC describes the completion of a ship: :Openings to the water I stopped; :I searched for crac on 13 October 1984 sponsored by Mrs. Vicki Ann Paisley, and commissionedThe ceremonies involved in commissioning ships into a military force are based in traditions thousands of years old. Ship naming and launching are the inseparable elements which endow a ship hull with her identity. Yet, just as many developmental mileston on 27 October 1986, with Commander Rovert Avery in command.
Early in 1996, an RQ-1 Predator aerial reconnaissance drone was successfully controlled from Chicago. The drone reached altitudes up to 6000 meters (20,000) feet and ranged up to 185 kilometers (100 nautical miles) from the submarine, which was operating at periscope depth.
See USS Chicago for other ships of the same name.
This article includes information collected from the
Naval Vessel Register as well as various press releases and news stories.