USS Columbus (SSN-762), a , was the fourth ship of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 to be named for Columbus, Ohio

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat

Electric boat

While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail power and gasoline engines also remaining popular, boats powered by electricity have been used for over 120 years. Electric boats were very popular from the 1880s until the 1920s, when the internal combustion...

 Division of General Dynamics

General Dynamics

General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...

 Corporation in Groton, Connecticut

Groton, Connecticut

Groton is a town located on the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 39,907 at the 2000 census....

 on 21 March 1986 and her keel was laid down on 9 January 1991. She was launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 on 1 August 1992 sponsored by Mrs. Margaret DeMars, and commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 on 24 July 1993 with Commander Carl M. Smeigh, Jr. in command.

Operational history

Columbus completed a Post Shipyard Availability in June 1994 in Groton, Connecticut after initial construction and shakedown operations. In September 1994, the ship conducted an interfleet transfer to Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

, Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 and joined the U.S. Pacific Fleet Submarine Force. Columbus deployed to the Western Pacific

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 in late 1995 through early 1996 and conducted a variety of operations as a unit of the U.S. 7th Fleet

United States Seventh Fleet

The Seventh Fleet is the United States Navy's permanent forward projection force based in Yokosuka, Japan, with units positioned near Japan and South Korea. It is a component fleet force under the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with...

 along the way making port visits in Hong Kong, Subic Bay, Guam, and Yokosuka, Japan.

Columbus was the first Submarine equipped with the BYG-1 Fire Control System in December 2002. Two successful test launches of Tactical Tomahawk (Block IV) cruise missiles were conducted in late May 2003 from USS Columbus (SSN 762), underway in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California. Columbus departed Pearl Harbor for another western pacific deployment in late 2003 and visited Chinhae, South Korea, Singapore, and Japan while taking part in Annual-Ex 2003(exercise) with various units of the Japanese Navy Defense force.

Columbus departed Pearl Harbor in March 2008 for a regularly scheduled six-month deployment, during which she supported theater security cooperation efforts and conducted port visits to Saipan, Guam, Okinawa, Sasebo, and Yokosuka, Japan.
In January 2009 Columbus won the Submarine Squadron 7 Battle Efficiency (Battle "E") award, given to the submarine crew that best demonstrates technical proficiency and continual mission readiness throughout the year. CDR David Minyard relieved CDR Doody as Commanding Officer on May 8, 2009. In July 2009, the Chief of Naval Operations announced that the ship was the Pacific Fleet winner of the Calendar Year 2008 Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy.

Awards

1995

Pacific Fleet Golden Anchor Award

Red Engineering "E"

Yellow Medical "M"

1996

Meritorious Unit Commendation

1997

Supply Blue "E"

1998

Pacific Fleet Silver Anchor Award

Engineering "E"

Deck Seamanship

2002

Red Green Navigational “N”

2003

Navy Unit Commendation

Tactical “T"

Communications “C”

2004

Medical “M”

2008

Department of the Navy Safety Excellence Award

Battle "E", Damage Control 'DC', Navigation 'N', Communications 'C', and Supply Blue 'E'

Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy

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