USS Columbia (SSN-771)

USS Columbia (SSN-771)

History
United States
Name	USS Columbia
Namesake	Cities of Columbia, South Carolina, Columbia, Missouri, and Columbia, Illinois
Awarded	14 December 1988
Builder	General Dynamics Electric Boat
Laid down	21 April 1993
Launched	24 September 1994
Sponsored by	Hillary Clinton
Christened	24 September 1994
Completed	24 September 1994
Commissioned	9 October 1995
Homeport	Naval Station Pearl Harbor
Motto	Preserving Freedom On The Seas
Status	in active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Los Angeles-class submarine
Displacement	6,000 long tons (6,096 t) light 6,927 long tons (7,038 t) full 927 long tons (942 t) dead
Length	110.3 m (361 ft 11 in)
Beam	10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Draft	9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
Propulsion	1 × S6G PWR nuclear reactor with D2W core (165 MW), HEU 93.5%[1][2] 2 × steam turbines (33,500) shp 1 × shaft 1 × secondary propulsion motor 325 hp (242 kW)
Speed	Surface: About 15 knots. Submerged: About 32 knots.
Complement	12 officers, 110 men
Armament	4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 12 x Vertical Launch Missile Tubes

USS Columbia (SSN-771) is the 21st flight III, or Improved (688i) Los Angeles-class attack submarine of the United States Navy. Commissioned in 1995, the submarine is assigned to Submarine Squadron 7 and homeported in Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.^[3]

Columbia is the eighth U.S. warship to bear the name, though the first to be named for three cities: Columbia, Illinois, Columbia, Missouri and Columbia, South Carolina.

The contract to build Columbia was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 14 December 1988 and her keel was laid down on 21 April 1993. She was the 33rd Los Angeles-class boat built by Electric Boat, and was launched on 24 September 1994 with the slide down a 1,300-foot wooden ramp, the last American submarine to do so, giving her the title of "The Last Slider". Columbia was sponsored by Hillary Clinton, and commissioned on 9 October 1995.