USS Dallas (SSN-700)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Dallas.

USS Dallas Dallas carrying a Dry Deck Shelter.
History
United States
Name:	USS Dallas
Namesake:	the city of Dallas, Texas
Awarded:	31 January 1973
Builder:	General Dynamics Corporation
Laid down:	9 October 1976
Launched:	28 April 1979
Commissioned:	18 July 1981
Homeport:	Groton, Connecticut
Motto:	First in Harm's Way
Status:	in active service, as of 2024
Badge:	150px
General characteristics
Class & type:	Los Angeles-class submarine
Displacement:	6,900 tons
Length:	110.3 m (361 ft 11 in)
Beam:	10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Draft:	9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
Propulsion:	S6G nuclear reactor
Complement:	127 men
Armament:	4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes

USS Dallas (SSN-700) is a Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine of the United States Navy. She is the Navy's second ship of that name, and the first to be named for the city of Dallas, Texas, although another two ships were scheduled but never completed.

Career

The contract to build Dallas was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 31 October 1973 and her keel was laid down on 9 October 1976. She was launched on 28 April 1979 sponsored by Mrs. William P. Clements, Jr., and commissioned on 18 July 1981, with Captain Donald R. Ferrier in command. Dallas was the first submarine of the SSN 688 class to be originally built with an all-digital fire control (tracking and weapon) system and sonar system.

After commissioning, Dallas was attached to Submarine Development Squadron TWELVE, New London, Connecticut, where she was involved in many research and development projects. Since September 1988, Dallas has been a member of Submarine Squadron TWO, New London, Connecticut. During her time with Squadron TWO, she completed the first ever Depot Modernization Period and various overseas deployments.

Dallas recently completed an Engineered Refueling Overhaul (ERO) at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. The D1G-2 core was replaced with a D2W core. Dallas has had a removable Dry Deck Shelter for over a decade. This large chamber, fitted aft of the sail, has an array of air, water and hydraulic systems that allow Dallas to employ the latest submarine arsenal: the Swimmer Delivery Vehicle — a highly mobile and virtually undetectable means of carrying out special forces missions.

Dallas has completed one deployment to the Indian Ocean, four Mediterranean Sea deployments, two Persian Gulf deployments, and seven deployments to the North Atlantic.

On 27 August 1981 Dallas damaged her lower rudder when she ran aground while approaching the Atlantic Underwater Test and Evaluation Center site at Andros Island, Bahamas. The submarine worked herself free after several hours and returned on the surface to New London, Connecticut, for repairs.

In 2013 the US Navy announced that Dallas would be retired in 2014, however this was later extended to Fiscal Year 2017. The Dallas Maritime Museum, to be located along the banks of the Trinity River (Texas), is planned to contain some components of the original ship, such as its sail.

Command Operations Reports

As filed by the ship's commanding officer with the U.S. Navy's Director of Naval History, these reports are available here for Dallas.

Awards

Dallas received two Meritorious Unit Commendations, two Navy Unit Commendations and was awarded the Battle Efficiency E for FY 1986, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1999, 2000 and 2013. Further recognition includes nomination for the 1993 Battenberg Cup as the best all-around ship in the fleet and the 1999 Engineering "E" and Medical "M".

In fiction

Dallas features prominently in the Tom Clancy novel The Hunt for Red October and its film adaptation.

The ship is used in a more minor role in several other Clancy books; as such, the actual ship's crew adopted the film's tagline "The Hunt Is On" as an unofficial ship's motto. For the filming in the Pacific Ocean, USS Houston was the primary submarine used. USS Louisville was used in two scenes, the drydock scene at the fictional "Patuxent, Maryland" graving dock, and the scene where Jack Ryan is attempting to board Dallas. According to coverage of the filming in Sea Classics magazine, one USS Dallas sailor took leave, from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, to fly to California to participate in the filming.

USS Dallas also makes an appearance in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 mission "The Only Easy Day... Was Yesterday" and in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Small Victories".

USS Dallas also makes an appearance in the first person shooter Video Game Duke Nukem 3D, and Duke Nukem Forever.

USS Dallas is featured along with her sister ship USS Charlotte in the John Ringo novel Under A Graveyard Sky.

USS Dallas is featured in the Star Trek game "Elite Force II"

Future Plans

File:USS Dallas (SSN-700) returning to Groton after final deployment in 2013.jpg

Dallas returning from her 2013 deployment.

Originally, it was planned to decommission Dallas in September 2014. In May, 2013 officials with the city of Dallas, Texas announced an ambitious plan to create a maritime museum more than 250 miles from the nearest body of salt water. Mayor Mike Rawlings and members of a foundation formed to create the new facility revealed one of their ambitions is to acquire and display Dallas next to a 30,000-square-foot museum building.

However, on 30 May 2014, the U.S. Navy announced that the service life for Dallas had been extended to fiscal year 2017 and that instead USS Norfolk (SSN-714) would begin inactivation in early 2015. The U.S. Navy projected to save $10 million in Pre-Inactivation Restricted Availability (PIRA) costs as a result of the change. The Navy has stated that the disposition of Dallas following its eventual decommissioning is as yet undecided.

References

This article includes information collected from the public domain sources Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships and Naval Vessel Register.