USS ''Springfield'' (SSN-761), a , is the fourth 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 bear the name. The boat was named in honor of both the cities of

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

and

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

. The contract to build her was awarded to the

Electric Boat Division General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) is a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation. It has been the primary builder of submarines for the United States Navy for more than 100 years. The company's main facilities are a shipyard in Groton, Co ...

General Dynamics Corporation General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Unit ...

Groton, Connecticut Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London is ...

on 21 March 1986, and her keel was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 29 January 1990. She was launched on 4 January 1992 sponsored by Lynn Martin, and commissioned on 9 January 1993. ''Springfield'' is homeported at

Naval Base Guam Naval Base Guam is a strategic United States Navy#United States territories, U.S. naval base located on Apra Harbor and occupying the Orote Peninsula. In 2009, it was combined with Andersen Air Force Base to form Joint Region Marianas, which is a ...

in Agana, Guam and is assigned to Submarine Squadron FIFTEEN. In mid-2004, ''Springfield'' began an extensive overhaul, or Depot Modernization Period (DMP), at the

Electric Boat An electric boat is a powered watercraft driven by electric motors, which are powered by either on-board battery packs, solar panels or generators. While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail pow ...

shipyard in Groton. In addition to normal periodic maintenance and repairs, ''Springfield'' received extensive modernization in fire control systems,

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...

processing, weapons launch systems, and communications outfit, a

ring laser gyro A ring laser gyroscope (RLG) consists of a ring laser having two independent counter-propagating resonant modes over the same path; the difference in phase is used to detect rotation. It operates on the principle of the Sagnac effect which shifts ...

inertial navigation system, as well as stealth improvements and engine room upgrades. The modernization was the first major overhaul and repair job for Electric Boat in almost 25 years. Originally awarded as a 12 month, $26.3 million depot modernization, ''Springfield'' was to be the test case for the possibility of awarding future repair and overhaul contracts to Electric Boat. The overhaul was plagued by cost and time overruns, and when finally completed in December 2005, it was several months late and well over budget. Electric Boat has not been awarded any DMP contracts since. ''Springfield'' arrived at PNSY on 1 December 2016 to begin an Engineering Overhaul. ''Springfield'' will undergo planned maintenance work and system certifications primarily focused on modernizing systems associated with the boat's engine room. ''Springfield'' transferred homeports from Pearl Harbor to Naval Base Guam on March 21, 2022.

Awards

''Springfield'' has deployed overseas on many occasions and earned several

Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...

s and

Battle "E" The Battle Effectiveness Award (formerly the Battle Efficiency Award, commonly known as the Battle "E"), is awarded annually to the small number of United States Navy ships, submarines, aviation, and other units that win their battle effectiveness c ...

Efficiency awards. In 1998, ''Springfield'' won the Captain Edward F. Ney Silver Cup Trophy for outstanding food service (first place in the submarine category). The Ney Memorial Awards, presented annually to the top Navy galleys in ten categories, were established by the Secretary of the Navy and the International Food Service Executives Association (IFSEA) in 1958. In 2002 the boat received the

Arleigh Burke Arleigh Albert Burke (October 19, 1901 – January 1, 1996) was an admiral of the United States Navy who distinguished himself during World War II and the Korean War, and who served as Chief of Naval Operations during the Eisenhower and Kenne ...

Fleet Trophy for most improved ship in the Atlantic Fleet, while under command of Commander D.P. Forney. In 2003 the boat was awarded the Retention Excellence Award for her squadron. She has also won multiple awards for Navigation, Engineering, Medical, Supply, Damage Control and Deck Seamanship excellence in various years.

References

External links

General Dynamics Electric Boat Corporation News

* ttp://www.norwichbulletin.com/article/20140725/NEWS/140729681/1994 Norwich Bulletin {{DEFAULTSORT:Springfield (SSN-761) Los Angeles-class submarines Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy Ships built in Groton, Connecticut 1992 ships Submarines of the United States