USS ''Boise'' (SSN-764), a , is the second ship of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

to be named for

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...

. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 6 February 1987 and her keel was laid down on 25 August 1988. She was launched on 23 March 1991, and commissioned on 7 November 1992.

Service history

During a Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) carried out in 1999, ''Boise'' was reported "sunk" by Dutch diesel-electric powered submarine . In the same exercise ''Walrus'' reportedly also took down eight other allied vessels, including the aircraft carrier and , flagship of the

United States Sixth Fleet The Sixth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy operating as part of United States Naval Forces Europe. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. The officially stated mission of the Sixth Fleet in ...

. In 2002 ''Boise'' was assigned to the

carrier strike group A carrier strike group (CSG) is a type of carrier battle group of the United States Navy. It is an operational formation composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, usually an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a destroyer squadron of at least t ...

when the group took part in Operation Enduring Freedom. In March 2003, ''Boise'' delivered some of the opening shots of Operation Iraqi Freedom when she launched a full load of Tomahawk missiles in support of the initial invasion. The ship and crew were later awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for their distinguished service in action. In February 2017, ''Boise'' was no longer dive-certified as was awaiting scheduled maintenance at Norfolk. Due to congestion and delays in Navy shipyards, it was planned that ''Boise'' would receive maintenance at a private shipyard during Fiscal Year 2019. However, due to unforeseen delays she only entered drydock in early 2021. If she returns to service as scheduled in 2023, there would have been an eight-year pause between her patrol. The long wait has been attributed to a ten year lapse in capabilities and logistic setbacks discovered during the retrofit and restoration work done on submarines and .

References

Los Angeles-class submarines Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy 1991 ships Submarines of the United States Ships built in Newport News, Virginia {{US-submarine-stub