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USS Greeneville (SSN-772)

USS Greeneville (SSN-772)
USS Greeneville (SSN-772) off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii.
USS Greeneville (SSN-772) off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii carrying the ASDS.
History
United States
Name: USS Greeneville
Namesake: Town of Greeneville
Ordered: 14 December 1988
Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding
Laid down: 28 February 1992
Launched: 17 September 1994
Sponsored by: Tipper Gore
Commissioned: 16 February 1996
Homeport: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, U.S.
Motto: Volunteers Defending Frontiers
Status: in active service
Badge: Crest of the Greeneville
General characteristics
Class and type: Los Angeles-class submarine
Displacement:
  • 6,000 long tons (6,096 t) light
  • 6,927 long tons (7,038 t) full
  • 927 long tons (942 t) dead
Length: 362 ft (110 m)
Beam: 33 ft (10 m)
Draft: 31 ft (9.4 m)
Propulsion: 1 × S6G reactor
Complement: 12 officers, 98 men
Armament:
  • 4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
  • 12 × vertical launch Tomahawk missiles

USS Greeneville (SSN-772), a Los Angeles-class submarine and is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named after Greeneville, Tennessee.

The contract to build the ship was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, on 14 December 1988, and her keel was laid down on 28 February 1992. She was launched on 17 September 1994, sponsored by Tipper Gore, and commissioned on 16 February 1996, with Commander Duane B. Hatch in command.

She was named after Greeneville, the home of 17th United States President Andrew Johnson, after local residents, businesses such as Greeneville Metal Manufacturing, which builds submarine components, and government officials began a campaign for a submarine to be named after their town, rather than a large metropolitan area.

The Greeneville is probably best known for colliding with a Japanese fishing vessel off the coast of Oahu in February 2001.

On 9 February 2001, while conducting an emergency main ballast tank blow off the coast of Oahu while hosting several civilian "distinguished visitors", mainly donors to the Battleship Missouri Memorial, the Greeneville struck the 191-foot (58 m) Japanese fishery high school training ship Ehime Maru (えひめ丸), causing the fishing boat to sink in less than ten minutes with the death of nine crew members, including four high school students. The commander of the Greeneville, Commander Scott Waddle, accepted full responsibility for the incident. However, after he faced a court of inquiry, it was decided a full court-martial would be unnecessary and Commander Waddle's request to retire was approved for 1 October 2001 with an honorable discharge.

On 27 August 2001, Greeneville ran aground while entering port in Saipan on a routine Western Pacific deployment. The boat's underside, rudder, and propulsion train suffered minor damage; repairs required drydocking and a significant delay in the remainder of her deployment. The boat's commanding officer, Commander David Bogdan, was relieved of command, and the navigator and assistant navigator were also removed from their duties. In addition, the navigator and the sub's executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Gerald Pfieffer, were found guilty of "hazarding a vessel" during an admiral's mast, conducted by Rear Admiral Joseph Enright, Commander, Submarine Group Seven.


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