Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding
Laid down: 12 July 2002
Launched: 9 April 2005
Christened: 31 July 2004, sponsored by: Laura Bush
Commissioned: 9 September 2006
Homeport: Pearl Harbour, Hawaii
Class and type: Virginia-class submarine
Displacement: 7,900 tonnes (7,800 long tons)
Length: 114.9 m (377 ft)
Beam: 10.3 m (34 ft)
Propulsion: S9G reactor
Speed: 25 kn (29 mph; 46 km/h)+
Range: Measured in terms of time (life-of-the-ship; approx. 33 years)
Complement: 134 officers and men
Armament: 12 × VLS (BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile) & 4 × 533mm torpedo tubes (Mk-48 torpedo)
USS TEXAS (SSN-775) is a Virginia-class submarine, and the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named in honour of the state of Texas.
The contract to build her was awarded to the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard (then called Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.) in Newport News, Virginia on 30 September 1998 and her keel was laid down on 12 July 2002. She was christened on 31 July 2004 by Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States. She was launched into the James River on 9 April 2005.
Under the command of Captain John Litherland, USS TEXAS arrived at Galveston Bay on 4 September 2006 and was escorted into the harbour by Elissa. USS TEXAS was commissioned in Galveston, Texas, and joined the U.S. Atlantic Fleet on 9 September 2006. Texas was the second Virginia-class attack submarine constructed and the first submarine to be named after the "Lone Star" state. Two battleships and a cruiser were previously named USS TEXAS,
USS TEXAS, under the command of Commander Robert Roncska, departed New London Naval Submarine Base at Groton for Pearl Harbour on September 16, 2009. On its way to Pearl Harbour, the sub travelled to the Arctic Ocean and surfaced near the North Pole's ice pack. Due to the thickness of the ice on the West Coast, the sub turned around and completed its westbound transit via the Panama Canal. The USS TEXAS arrived in her new home port on November 23, 2009.
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Sources: Wikipedia and other sites.
Peter Crichton.