USS Washington (SSN-787)

USS Washington (SSN-787) is a Virginia class submarine.

History

The contract to build her was awarded to Huntington Ingalls Industries in partnership with the Electric Boat division of General Dynamics in Newport News, Virginia on 22 December 2008. This ship is the fourth of the Block III subs which will feature a revised bow, including some technology from Ohio class submarine SSGNs. Construction began on 2 September 2011 at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. On 13 April 2012, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that SSN-787 would be named after the State of Washington, which was celebrated during a naming ceremony in Seattle on 7 February 2013. The Navy christened Washington on 5 March 2016, during a ceremony at Newport News Shipbuilding. Her keel was laid down on 22 November 2014. She was launched on 13 April 2016, sponsored by Elisabeth Mabus (daughter of Secretary Mabus), and commissioned on 7 October 2017. At the time of her commissioning, she was under the command of Commander Gabriel Cavazos.

In March 2020, Cavazos was relieved by Commander Eric Astle in a ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk. At the time, she had recently returned from a deployment covering approximately 45,000 nautical miles (52,000 mi; 83,000 km) with stops in Rota, Spain, and Faslane, Scotland.

In late February 2022, Washington returned to Naval Station Norfolk after a deployment of 192 days of sustained operations, covering over 37,000 nautical miles (43,000 mi; 69,000 km), with stops in Haakonsvern, Norway; Tromsø, Norway; Faslane, Scotland; and Brest, France. News reports indicated she was in Tromsø during January 11–14.

In July 2022, Astle was relieved by Commander Clint Christofk in a ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk. At the time, it was noted that the boat had undergone five months of emergency dry-dock repairs while under Astle's command.

In December 2023, Washington returned to Naval Station Norfolk after a six-month deployment covering over 37,000 nautical miles, with stops in Scotland and Norway. In July 2024, Christofk was relieved by Commander Keith Turnbull in a ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk. At that ceremony, Washington was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for completing "three demanding missions vital to national security that resulted in obtaining sensitive and unique intelligence information."

In mid-September 2024, Washington made a stop at Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut. In late September 2024, the boat arrived at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, for scheduled maintenance and system upgrades. She had not deployed since her return to Norfolk in December 2023.