USS San Francisco (SSN-711)
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| Career | 
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| Awarded: | 1 August 1975 |
| Laid down: | 26 May 1977 |
| Launched: | 27 October 1979 |
| Commissioned: | 24 April 1981 |
| Status: | Template:Active in service |
| Homeport: | Guam |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 5759 tons light, 6145 tons full, 386 tons dead |
| Length: | 110.3 meters (362 feet) |
| Beam: | 10 meters (33 feet) |
| Draft: | 9.7 meters (32 feet) |
| Propulsion: | one S6G reactor |
| Complement: | 12 Officers, 115 Enlisted |
| Motto: | Oro en Paz, Fierro en Guerra (Gold in Peace, Iron in War) |
 San Francisco in drydock at Guam, January 2005 | |
USS San Francisco (SSN-711), a Los Angeles-class submarine, is the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for San Francisco, California. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding, and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 1 August 1975 and her keel was laid down on 26 May 1977. She was launched on 27 October 1979 sponsored by Mrs Robert Y. Kaufman, and commissioned on 24 April 1981, with Commander J. Allen Marshall in command.
Following an initial shakedown cruise, San Francisco joined Submarine Force, US Pacific Fleet and moved to her homeport at Pearl Harbor. San Francisco completed deployments in 1982, 1985, and 1986 with the U.S. Seventh Fleet and various independent operations in the Pacific in 1986 and 1988 earning the Battle Efficiency "E" for Submarine Squadron Seven in 1985 and 1988.
San Francisco entered a Depot Modernization Period at Pearl Harbor from 1989 to 1990 and then went on to conduct deployments to the Western Pacific in 1992 and 1994. The submarine was awarded the 1994 Commander Submarine Squadron Seven "T" for excellence in tactical operations and a Meritorious Unit Commendation for the 1994 Western Pacific deployment.
On 18 December 2002 San Francisco arrived at her new homeport at Apra Harbor, Guam.
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Grounding
On 8 January 2005 at about 0200 GMT, San Francisco ran aground on an uncharted undersea mountain about 560 kilometers (350 statute miles) south of Guam while operating at about 40 knots and more than 400 feet deep. Twenty-three crewmen were injured, and Machinist's Mate Second Class Joseph Allen Ashley, 24, of Akron, Ohio, died on 9 January (local time) from injuries to his head. Injuries of the crew included broken bones, lacerations and a back injury. San Francisco’s forward ballast tanks and sonar dome were severely damaged, but her inner hull was not breached and there is no damage to her nuclear reactor. She surfaced and, accompanied by USCGC Galveston Island (WPB-1349), USNS Stockham (T-AK-3017), and USNS Kiska (T-AE-35), as well as MH-60S Knighthawks and P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft, arrived in Guam on 10 January. The Navy immediately stated that there was "absolutely no reason to believe that it struck another submarine or vessel."
Commander Kevin Mooney, San Francisco’s commanding officer, was reassigned to a shore unit in Guam during the incident investigation. As the investigation concluded, the Navy found that "several critical navigational and voyage planning procedures" were not being implemented aboard San Francisco, relieved Mooney of command, and issued him a nonjudicial letter of reprimand. (He was not charged with a crime and was not court-martialed). Six crew members were found also found guilty at their own nonjudicial punishment hearings ("Captain's Mast") of hazarding a vessel and dereliction of duty, and were reduced in rank and given punitive letters of reprimand. Twenty other officers and men received various awards, including letters of commendation, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal.
As San Francisco was expected to remain in-service until 2017, the Navy will have to determine if the damage is repairable, or if another submarine should be refueled instead of repairing San Francisco. San Francisco is in dry dock at Guam during this evaluation. A steel paraboloid about twenty feet (six meters) in diameter and in height was fabricated in Pearl Harbor and shipped to Guam on 14 February. It will be attached over San Francisco’s bow to provide water-tight integrity and forward buoyancy, so that the boat can safely transit to another location. No plans have been made regarding where she might go, or when, other than "summer 2005."
See USS San Francisco for other ships of the same name.
References
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register as well as various press releases and news stories.
See also
External links
- Official site (http://www.guam.navy.mil/711.htm)
- Official NVR Entry (http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/SSN711.htm)
- First-hand account of undersea collision. (http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=Defensewatch%20Special%203.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=3&rnd=132.15421036518714)
- BBC story on grounding report (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4527459.stm)
- Adrift 500 Feet Under the Sea, a Minute Was an Eternity (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/18/national/18crash.html?ex=1270785600&en=37bef79604f97228&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland) by Christopher Drew, New York Times, May 18, 2005.
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