USS Topeka (SSN-754), a , was the third 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 Topeka, Kansas

Topeka, Kansas

Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...

. 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 28 November 1983 and her keel was laid down on 13 May 1986. 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 23 January 1988 sponsored by Elizabeth Dole

Elizabeth Dole

Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford "Liddy" Dole is an American politician who served in both the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush presidential administrations, as well as a United States Senator....

 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 21 October 1989, with Commander Timothy Reichert in command.

The Topeka and form a unique sub-class among Los Angeles class submarines. The pressure hulls of both ships were partially manufactured using stronger HY-100, instead of the HY-80 steel used in the manufacturing of all other Los Angeles class submarines. This was done to test construction methods using this steel, which would later be employed in the assembly of the new s. In theory, this permits the Albany and Topeka to dive to a slightly greater depth than any other member of the Los Angeles class, though it remains unclear if this ability has ever been tested by either vessel.

History

In 1993 the mini series Submarines: Sharks of Steel used the Topeka to produce segments of their program. During New Year's Eve 2000 the USS Topeka straddled the international dateline, thus was famously "in two millenniums at once".

In October 2002, after completing a Modernization Period in Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Topeka shifted homeport to San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

, from 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...

.

Awards

COMSUBRON 11 Battle "E" - 1993/1995
In August 2004, Topeka returned to San Diego after six months of operations with the Seventh 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...

, including three missions significant to national security that earned the boat the Navy Expeditionary Medal

Navy Expeditionary Medal

The Navy Expeditionary Medal is an award of the United States Navy which was first created in August 1936 by General Orders of the Department of the Navy...

 and Navy Unit Commendation Medal. The ship and crew earned the Battle Efficiency "E" Award for 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009.

Popular Culture

In the 2009 live-action movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 2009 American science fiction-action film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to the 2007 film Transformers and the second installment in the live-action Transformers series...

, USS Topeka was part of a Carrier Battle Group

Carrier battle group

A carrier battle group consists of an aircraft carrier and its escorts, together composing the group. The first naval task forces built around carriers appeared just prior to and during World War II. The Imperial Japanese Navy was the first to assemble a large number of carriers into a single...

 stationed permanently in the Laurentian Abyss

Laurentian Abyss

The Laurentian Abyss is an underwater depression off the eastern coast of Canada in the Atlantic Ocean. Not a trench, but more of an "underwater valley", it is estimated to be at most ~6,000 meters in depth...

 to guard the dumping site of the Megatron. When several Decepticons arrived and dived to reach Megatron, the submarine spotted them and set off a pursuit. USS Topeka is also featured in TV series 24

24

Year 24 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cethegus and Varro...

in season 5 when terrorists intend to use its weapons against civilians in Los Angeles.