USS Toledo (SSN-769)

USS ''Toledo'' (SSN-769), is a United States Navy, nuclear-powered attack submarine and the third U.S. Naval vessel to be named for the city of Toledo, Ohio. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, on 10 June 1988, and her keel was laid down on 6 May 1991. She was launched on 28 August 1993, sponsored by Mrs. Sabra Smith, and commissioned on 24 February 1995.

History

Her first deployment was to the Mediterranean with the Carrier Strike Group in 1997–1998, followed by a six-month tour of the North Atlantic.

''Kursk'' incident

''Toledo'' and were observing Russian naval exercises in August 2000. There, the Russian cruise missile submarine ''Kursk'' suffered a catastrophic incident and sank. Russian Navy officials initially made numerous claims that the sinking of ''Kursk'' was caused by a collision with one of the US submarines, though evidence clearly disproved such a theory; the underwater seismic signals recorded matched those of an explosion and not a collision with another vessel, and the US submarines were fully operational after the incident (there is a claim ''Toledo'' would have been severely damaged or sunk by a hypothetical collision, being less than half of ''Kursk's'' displacement). The loss of ''Kursk'' was officially attributed to a faulty dummy torpedo leaking highly volatile high-test peroxide, setting off a chain reaction that detonated five to seven combat-ready torpedo warheads.

Nonetheless, French filmmaker Jean-Michel Carré, in an historical-fiction movie named ''Kursk: A Submarine in Troubled Waters'', which aired on 7 January 2005 on French TV channel France 2, alleged that ''Kursk'' sank because of a sequence of events triggered by a collision with ''Toledo''. According to Carré, ''Kursk'' was performing tests with VA-111 ''Shkval'' torpedoes and the tests were being observed by two US submarines on duty in the region, ''Toledo'' and .

2001-2006 deployments

''Toledo'' deployed to the Mediterranean again in late 2001-early 2002 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

''Toledo'' returned to the Naval Submarine Base New London in mid-April 2003 after having taken part in the Iraq War.

On 7 December 2004, ''Toledo'' returned to Groton, Connecticut, after a six-month deployment in the Persian Gulf with the Carrier Strike Group that included port calls in Crete, Dubai, and Bahrain. Her route home from Bahrain was unusual, rounding the Cape of Good Hope rather than using the Suez Canal. Once back in the North Atlantic, she was diverted for a classified drug interdiction mission with the Joint Interagency Task Force–South in the Caribbean Sea.

On 31 January 2006, ''Toledo'' again departed for a six-month deployment to CENTCOM. Ports of call included Augusta Bay, Sicily, Dubai, the British Indian Ocean Territory of Diego Garcia, and La Maddalena. She returned from this deployment on 31 July 2006.

Maintenance 2006–2009

Northrop Grumman Corporation was awarded a contract from the U.S. Navy for maintenance work, known as a depot modernization period, on ''Toledo''. The initial planning contract was valued at about $34.7 million. The final value, including the actual execution, was $178.5 million. She arrived in December 2006 to Newport News, and the work was completed in March 2009. The project was delayed for eight months because of approximately 2,000 project changes. This was a competitive award under a Naval Sea Systems Command multiple award contract.

In July 2009 two hull cracks, including one in her pressure hull, were discovered during a routine inspection. Although the Navy and Northrop Grumman launched two investigations into welding practices at the yard while ''Toledo'' was under maintenance, the cracks do not appear to be related to welds.

Return to service

''Toledo'' left for another six-month deployment on 23 July 2010. In December 2010, she made a port call in Haifa, Israel. Commander Reckamp was received by the Haifa City Mayor Yona Yahav in the City Hall as is customary for visiting commanders of warships making port calls in Haifa.

On 20 January 2011, ''Toledo'' returned to Groton, Connecticut, after a six-month deployment that included port calls in Cyprus, Bahrain, and Haifa.

On 12 September 2019, Toledo completed an eight-month EUCOM deployment that included port calls in Faslane, Scotland and Haakonsvern, Norway.

In early 2020, YouTuber and science communicator Destin Sandlin travelled aboard ''Toledo'' for 24 hours as part of a video series profiling different features and functions of the submarine.

In May 2020, the crew of ''Toledo'' was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for an eight-month intelligence collection deployment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toledo (SSN-769)
Kursk submarine disaster
Los Angeles-class submarines
Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy
Ships built in Newport News, Virginia
1993 ships
Submarines of the United States