}
USS ''Houston'' (SSN-713), a
attack submarine, was the fourth ship of the
United States Navy to be named for
Houston,
Texas. The contract to build her was awarded to
Newport News Shipbuilding
Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the largest industrial employer in Virginia, and sole designer, builder and refueler of United States Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S. Navy ...
and Dry Dock Company in
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...
on 1 August 1975 and her
keel was laid down on 29 January 1979. She was
launched on 21 March 1981 sponsored by
Barbara Bush, wife of then Vice-President of the United States
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
. ''Houston'' was
commissioned on 25 September 1982.
History
Author
Robert D. Kaplan embedded aboard the ship in the spring of 2005 and recounted his experiences in her for his book ''Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts'' in Chapter Four "Geeks with Tattoos: The Most Driven Men I have Ever Known."
2008 radiation leak
On 1 August 2008 the Navy reported to CNN that ''Houston'' was found to have been leaking radioactive water for months while on patrol and visiting stations in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
Guam and
Hawaii. The problem was discovered the previous month during servicing at Pearl Harbor. One crewman was exposed to radioactive water but not injured. The Navy reported that the ''Houston''s leak released only a "negligible" amount of radioactivity. The Navy later expanded the estimated time the leak existed to nearly two years, although they maintained the amount of radioactivity leaked was very small – "less than a smoke detector".
Final deployment
On 28 October 2015, ''Houston'' moored in Pearl Harbor, after completing her final scheduled deployment. She was decommissioned on 26 August 2016 in a ceremony at Naval Base Kitsap—Bangor. The ship is currently awaiting disposal, presumably in its home port of
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
References
External links
Official website for USS ''Houston''*
Los Angeles-class submarines
Cold War submarines of the United States
Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy
1981 ships
Ships built in Newport News, Virginia
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