USS Chicago (SSN-721)
- See USS Chicago for other ships of the same name.
| The Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Chicago (SSN 721) glides along at periscope depth in the western Pacific Ocean off the coast of Malaysia. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Kevin H. Tierney. July 24, 2001 | |
| Career | 
|
|---|---|
| Awarded: | 13 August 1981 |
| Laid down: | 5 January 1983 |
| Launched: | 13 October 1984 |
| Commissioned: | 27 October 1986 |
| Fate: | Template:Ship fate box active in service |
| Homeport: | Pearl Harbor |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 5759 tons light, 6162 tons full, 403 tons dead |
| Length: | 110.3 m (362 ft) |
| Beam: | 10 m (33 ft) |
| Draft: | 9.4 m (31 ft) |
| Propulsion: | one S6G reactor |
| Complement: | 12 officers, 98 men |
| |
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, and commissioned on 27 October 1986, with Commander Rovert Avery in command.
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. Its resolution doesn't allow ship identification, only 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).
Chicago in fiction
USS Chicago was one of three Los Angeles-class submarines featured prominently in the Tom Clancy novel Red Storm Rising. Near the beginning of the novel Chicago saves the Norwegian submarine Koben by launching Harpoon missiles at a Soviet naval force that had been escorting Kirov. Later in the novel USS Chicago, USS Boston and USS Providence were depicted launching a successful Tomahawk missile strike against a Tu-22 Backfire base. Moments later the sail of the Providence was severely damaged by a depth charge. As Chicago and Boston attempt to escort her safely home, they are ambushed and Boston and Providence are subsequently destroyed by a Soviet Alfa class submarine only a few miles from the safety of an ice pack.
References
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register as well as various press releases and news stories.