USS Newport News (SSN-750)
USS Newport News, in October 2004
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| History | |
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| Name: | USS Newport News |
| Namesake: | The City of Newport News, Virginia |
| Awarded: | 19 April 1982 |
| Builder: | Newport News Shipbuilding |
| Laid down: | 3 March 1984 |
| Launched: | 15 March 1986 |
| Commissioned: | 3 June 1989 |
| Homeport: | Norfolk, Virginia |
| Motto: |
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| Status: | in active service |
| Badge: |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Los Angeles-class submarine |
| Displacement: | |
| Length: | 110.3 m (361 ft 11 in) |
| Beam: | 10 m (32 ft 10 in) |
| Draft: | 9.4 m (30 ft 10 in) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: |
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| Test depth: | 290 m (950 ft) |
| Complement: | 13 officers; 121 enlisted |
| Armament: |
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USS Newport News (SSN-750), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Newport News, Virginia.
The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 19 April 1982 and her keel was laid down on 3 March 1984. She was launched on 15 March 1986 sponsored by Mrs. Rosemary D. Trible, and commissioned on 3 June 1989 with Commander Mark B. Keef in command. Mayor Jessie M. Rattley presented the ship with a commemorative plaque containing the poem "Newport News," written by Newport News native Ronald W. Bell, whose poem "Admiral Rickover" also appears upon a plaque aboard the Los Angeles class submarine Hyman G. Rickover.Ref: Naval Submarine Base, Groton, Ct. The poem appears on this page with permission from the author: ref: Sub Squadron 8, NOB, Norfolk
Newport News returned to Norfolk, Virginia, following a six-month overseas deployment that included operations in the Middle East. In support of Operation Iraqi Freedom she launched 19 UGM-109C Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles in March 2003. She deployed in August 2004, first to take part in joint operations with allied navies in the North Atlantic, then to the U.S. Central Command area of operations "in support of national security interests and the global war on terrorism."
On 8 January 2007, Newport News was operating submerged in the Arabian Sea south of the Straits of Hormuz when it hit the Japanese tanker Mogamigawa. She had been operating as part of Carrier Strike Group 8 (CSG-8), organized around the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69). The Carrier Strike Group was redeploying to the Indian Ocean to support a maritime cordon during the war in Somalia when the incident happened.Newport News suffered damage to her bow, but there was no damage to the sail, mast or reactor, and she made for port in Bahrain under her own power.Newport News was escorted from the mouth of the Straits of Hormuz to Bahrain by the Guided Missile Destroyer Benfold. This was due to the fact that the submarine was unable to transit submerged and has no surface defense capabilities. During the transit, Iranian aircraft and warships shadowed the ships. An official of the Kawasaki Kisen Company (or K Line), which owns the tanker, announced that Mogamigawa's hull and propellers were damaged.
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