USS Memphis (SSN-691)

	Career
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Awarded:	4 February 1971
Laid down:	23 June 1973
Launched:	3 April 1976
Commissioned:	17 December 1977
Fate:	Active, in commission
Homeport:	Groton, Connecticut
General Characteristics
Displacement:	5716 tons light, 6087 tons full, 371 tons dead
Length:	110.3 meters (362 feet)
Beam:	10 meters (33 feet)
Draft:	9.4 meters (31 feet)
Propulsion:	one S6G reactor
Complement:	12 officers, 98 men

USS Memphis (SSN-691), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for Memphis, Tennessee. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 4 February 1971 and her keel was laid down on 23 June 1973. She was launched on 3 April 1976 sponsored by Mrs. Cathy Beard, and commissioned on 17 December 1977, with Commander G. Dennis Hicks in command.

In March 1981, USS Memphis completed an around-the-world cruise via the Panama Canal, including operations with both the Sixth and Seventh Fleets.

Memphis was redesignated an experimental submarine during 1989 to test composite hull structures, unmanned underwater vehicles, advanced sonars, hull friction reduction, and other advanced technologies for the LA and Seawolf classes, but remains combat-capable.

During a mid-1990s refit, Memphis received numerous modifications, which added about 50 tons to her displacement, most of it aft.

a glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) turtleback abaft the sail to accommodate remotely operated vehicles
a towing winch and drum for experimental towed sonar arrays
4.27m-high by 1.37m-wide vertical surfaces at the ends of the stern stabilizers to accommodate sonar transducer arrays
a 54mm towed array dispenser in the port fin leading to the new winch abaft the sail
supports for the stern stabilizers
new hydraulic systems
a fiber-optic databus
58 standardized equipment racks to accommodate electronic test gear

In January 1994 Memphis entered Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) and modifications to support her research and development role. Upon completion of the shipyard availability she was assigned to Submarine Development Squadron TWELVE in Groton, Connecticut.

Memphis has tested a composite material propeller shaft of about half normal weight and, in 1998, the Lockheed Martin Undersea Systems Universal Gravity Module (UGM) passive bottom profiler navigational system.

See USS Memphis for other ships of the same name.

References

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register and various press releases.