Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News Shipbuilding Division, Newport News, Virginia, was awarded a $188,908,033 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to a previously awarded contract to continue the performance of the repair, maintenance, upgrades, and modernization efforts on the USS Columbus (SSN 762) engineered overhaul. USS Columbus (SSN-762) is a Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine and the second vessel of the United States Navy to be named for Columbus, Ohio. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by December 2022. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, USN, Newport News, Virginia is the contracting activity.
The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 21 March 1986 and her keel was laid down on 9 January 1991. She was launched on 1 August 1992 sponsored by Mrs. Margaret DeMars, wife of Admiral Bruce DeMars, and commissioned on 24 July 1993. In September 1994, the submarine conducted an interfleet transfer to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and joined the U.S. Pacific, Fleet Submarine Force. Columbus deployed to the Western Pacific in late 1995 through early 1996 and conducted a variety of operations as a unit of the Seventh Fleet along the way making port visits in Hong Kong, Subic Bay, Guam, and Yokosuka, Japan.
The Los Angeles class of submarines are nuclear-powered fast attack submarines (SSN) in service with the United States Navy. Also known as the 688 class after the hull number of lead vessel USS Los Angeles (SSN-688), 62 were built from 1972 to 1996. As of 2020, 32 of the Los Angeles class remain in commission — more than any other class in the world — and they account for more than half of the U.S. Navy’s 53 fast attack submarines. Submarines of this class are named after American towns and cities, such as Albany, New York; Los Angeles, California; and Tucson, Arizona, except USS Hyman G. Rickover, named for the “father of the nuclear Navy.” This was a change from traditionally naming attack submarines after marine animals, such as USS Seawolf or USS Shark.
Los Angeles-class submarines carry about 25 torpedo tube-launched weapons, as well as Mark 67 and Mark 60 CAPTOR mines and were designed to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles, and Harpoon missiles horizontally. The last 31 boats of this class also have 12 dedicated vertical launching system tubes for launching Tomahawks. The Los Angeles class is powered by the General Electric S6G pressurized water reactor. The hot reactor coolant water heats water in the steam generators, producing steam to power the propulsion turbines and ship service turbine generators (SDGs), which generate the submarine’s electrical power.An emergency propulsion motor on the shaft line or a retractable 325-hp secondary propulsion motor power the submarine off the battery or diesel generator.
