The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 30 June 1988 and her keel was laid down on 22 February 1992. She was launched on 4 December 1993 sponsored by Laura O'Keefe, wife of former Secretary of the Navy Sean O'Keefe, and commissioned on 10 December 1994, with Commander George Kasten in command.
After having served at sea for 16 years, the collision occurred on 20 March 2009. The United States Navy Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered submarine USS Hartford and the United States Navy San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS New Orleans collided while in the Strait of Hormuz, between Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and the Musandam exclave of Oman. Both ships incurred millions of dollars' worth of damage in the collision which required repair in drydock.
Consider that a Los Angeles-class submarine is 362 feet long with a 33 foot beam and displaces 6000 tons while contemplating the amount of force it took during that split second to roll her onto her side while under way. The USS Hartford had tears rent through steel plates near the sail when the submarine was thrown over into an 85-degree roll during the collision.
I heard the first-hand-story of what it was like onboard during those dire seconds from a retired officer who was in the galley of USS Hartford when it happened. He is permitted to speak on the subject during seminars to enlighten General Dynamics Electric Boat workers who are building Naval nuclear-powered vessels. He ends his story with a slide showing his return home from that deployment to hold his new baby for the first time.
I heard the first-hand-story on the extent of damage to Hartford's hull and sail from a man who worked the repair. Final repair cost was $120 million when Hartford returned to duty in February, 2011. The collision had ripped 2-inch-thick, high-yield-strength-steel, fabricated plates like ripe linen.
Not a single weld failed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hartf ... _collision
