USS Nebraska (SSBN-739)

USS "Nebraska" (SSBN-739) is the 14th "Ohio"-class ballistic missile submarine, and the second U.S. naval ship to be named in honor of the 37th state of the Union.

The contract to build to "Nebraska" was awarded on 26 May 1987 to General Dynamics. The keel was laid on 6 July 1987 and she was launched roughly five years later on 15 August 1992, sponsored by Patricia Exon, the wife of Senator J. James Exon. "Nebraska" was delivered to the US Navy on 18 June 1993, and commissioned on 10 July 1993.

She is a ballistic missile submarine capable of carrying the Trident missile. "Nebraska" is nicknamed 'Big Red', which she shares with the University of Nebraska's nickname.

"Nebraska", originally assigned to Submarine Group 10 at Kings Bay, Georgia since commissioning, was transferred to Submarine Squadron 19 within Submarine Group 9 at Bangor, Washington, effective 1 October 2004.

On September 21, 2008 the US Navy reported that a crewmember was killed in an accident aboard the submarine on or around September 20 while the submarine was submerged off Oahu. No other crewmember was injured and the submarine was not damaged in the accident. ["Los Angeles Times", "U.S. Sailor Dies In Sub Accident", September 22, 2008.]

Notes

Related Reading

Big Red: The Three-Month Voyage of a Trident Nuclear Submarine by Douglas C. Waller. April, 2002

External links

* [http://www.nebraska.navy.mil/ USS "Nebraska" official site]
* [http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/SSBN739.htm nvr.navy.mil: USS "Nebraska"]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08739.htm navsource.org: USS "Nebraska"]
* [http://united-states-navy.com/ssbn/ssbn739.htm united-states-navy.com: USS "Nebraska"]