USS Chicago (SSN-721)

USS "Chicago" (SSN-721) is a "Los Angeles"-class submarine, the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city of Chicago, Illinois. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 13 August 1981 and her keel was laid down on 5 January 1983. She was launched on 13 October 1984 sponsored by Mrs. Vicki Ann Paisley, wife of Melvyn R. Paisley assistant Secretary of the Navy, and commissioned on 27 September 1986, with Commander Robert Avery in command.

hip's History

Early in 1996, an RQ-1 Predator aerial reconnaissance drone was successfully controlled from "Chicago". The drone reached altitudes up to 6000 meters (20,000 ft) and ranged up to 185 kilometers (100 nmi.) from the submarine, which was operating at periscope depth.

In the summer of 2005, "Chicago" tested the Virtual Periscope, a system that would allow submerged submarines to observe the surface above them without having to come to a shallower depth, as is required by traditional periscopes. A small camera mounted on the sail of the submarine uses the surface of the ocean as a lens, collecting light from above the surface and refracting it below. High-speed signal processing software assembles an image of what is on the surface. The system's resolution does not allow ship identification, only indicating that something is on the surface. Objects 30 meters (100 feet) tall can be seen at about a distance of 1600 meters (one mile). Sufficient light is available when a camera is shallower than 30 to 60 meters (100 to 200 feet).

Awards

* Meritorious Unit Commendation(3)
* Navy "E" Ribbon Submarine Squadron Battle 'E' (4)
* Navy Expeditionary Medal
* National Defense Medal
* Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
* Southwest Asian Service Medal (2)
* Sea Service Ribbon (3)
* Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia)
* Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)
* Navy Unit Commendation

Commanding Officers

* CDR. Robert Avery (1985-1988)
* CDR. Stanley Szemborski (1988-1990)
* CDR. Glenn Ward (1990-1993)
* CDR. Stephen E. Johnson (1993-1995)
* CDR. David M. Schubert, Jr. (1995-1997)
* CDR. John C. Mickey (1997-2000)
* CDR. Daniel E. Prince(2000-2002)
* CDR. Craig Selbrede (2002-2004)
* CDR. Richard Wortman (2004-2006)
* CDR. Rick Stoner (2006-Present)

Chiefs of the Boat (COB)

* EMCM(SS) Lester S. Pitman (1987-1990)
* MMCM(SS) Conrad Gillaspie (1993-1997)
* ETCS(SS) Timothy R. McVeigh (1997)
* ETCM(SS) Philip Moore (1997-2000)
* MMCM(SS) Joesph Amador (2003-2006)
* MMCM(SS) Steven Hoppe (2006-2008)

In Fiction

USS "Chicago" was featured prominently in the 1986 Tom Clancy novel Red Storm Rising, accounting for several submarine and surface warship kills and launching cruise missiles against military airfields inside the Soviet Union.

References

Additional Reading

Non-Fiction
* Genat, Robin and Genat, Robert. Modern U.S. Naval Submarines. Osceola, WI: MBI Publishing Company, 1997.

External links

* [http://www.csp.navy.mil/ Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet]
* [http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/SSN721.htm USS Chicago, Naval Vessel Register]
* [http://www.navybuddies.com/ssn/ssn721.htm USS Chicago (SSN 721)]