USS California (SSN 781)

USS CALIFORNIA History:

USS CALIFORNIA is a Block II VIRGINIA-class nuclear-powered fast attack submarine built as part of the U.S. Navy's transition from the LOS ANGELES-class to a more flexible, multi-mission undersea force. The construction contract was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding on August 14, 2003, with construction beginning in 2006 and the keel laid on May 1, 2009. CALIFORNIA was christened on November 6, 2010, and launched eight days later on November 14, 2010, with Donna Willard, wife of Admiral Robert F. Willard, as sponsor. The submarine was delivered to the Navy on August 7, 2011, more than eight months ahead of schedule, and commissioned on October 29, 2011, at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. From the outset, she was equipped with an advanced electromagnetic signature reduction system, making her the first VIRGINIA-class submarine to receive that feature from new construction. Her motto, Silentium Est Aureum ("Silence Is Golden"), links both the "Silent Service" and California's nickname as the "Golden State".

Following delivery and final pre-commissioning trials, CALIFORNIA conducted the usual series of builder's and Navy acceptance events leading into her commissioning, validating propulsion, combat systems, and acoustic performance. After commissioning in Norfolk, she prepared to shift to her operational homeport, Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, the principal East Coast submarine base and training hub for the U.S. Submarine Force.

On January 6, 2012, CALIFORNIA arrived at her new homeport in Groton for the first time. Official photographs show Cmdr. Dana Nelson, the first commanding officer, supervising line-handling as tugs eased the new submarine alongside the pier at Naval Submarine Base New London, with Rear Adm. Rick Breckenridge, Commander Submarine Group Two, embarked for the arrival. This marked the completion of the initial transit phase from the construction yard in Virginia to the operational base in New England and the start of her service as an active unit of the Atlantic submarine force.

Even as CALIFORNIA settled into life at Groton, preparations were already underway for her formal Post-Shakedown Availability (PSA), a standard major yard period after initial operations. On January 9, 2012, Electric Boat in Groton received a Navy contract modification for planning and execution of CALIFORNIA's PSA, covering maintenance, alterations, testing, and associated material procurement. Work was scheduled to be completed by late 2012 and involved Electric Boat facilities in Groton and Quonset Point, Rhode Island. In practical terms, this meant that after initial pier-side preparations and limited operations, the submarine would return across the Thames River to the builder's yard for an extended, intensive availability to correct issues discovered during trials and to install updates, including the latest combat systems configuration for the class.

CALIFORNIA spent much of 2012 in this PSA at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton. The yard period, ultimately lasting about eleven months, included work on propulsion plant systems, combat systems tuning, hull and internal maintenance, and software and sensor updates typical for a newly introduced unit. On January 29, 2013, she was photographed transiting down the Thames River back to Naval Submarine Base New London, with line handlers on deck being sprayed by sea water as she returned from the PSA. The imagery and associated captions identify this as the conclusion of an eleven-month post-shakedown availability, confirming that, by early 2013, CALIFORNIA had completed her initial yard cycle and was available for full operational training and deployment preparation.

Just days after that return to full operational status, CALIFORNIA's early command phase concluded. On February 1, 2013, the submarine held a change-of-command ceremony at the Submarine Force Library and Museum in Groton. Cmdr. Shawn Huey relieved Cmdr. Dana Nelson, with Capt. Mike Holland, Commander, Submarine Squadron FOUR, serving as guest speaker. In recognizing Nelson, senior leaders emphasized his leadership through new construction, sea trials, commissioning, the shift of homeport to Groton, and the eleven-month Post-Shakedown Availability, noting that the availability delivered CALIFORNIA with the most modern combat system yet fitted to a VIRGINIA-class submarine. Huey, who had previously served under Submarine Forces Atlantic, took command with the explicit task of leading CALIFORNIA through her first operational deployment.

Throughout 2013 and into 2014, CALIFORNIA operated from Groton under Submarine Squadron FOUR, conducting shore-based training, local operations in the Western Atlantic, and workups for deployment. Publicly released details for this period are sparse, which is typical for attack submarines, but compiled open sources indicate specific underway periods for training. On May 12, 2014, CALIFORNIA departed Naval Submarine Base New London for routine at-sea training and returned in early June, completing a pre-deployment underway phase that contributed to her readiness for extended operations in the North Atlantic and European waters later that year.

With workups completed, CALIFORNIA began her maiden deployment in mid-2014. Open source imagery and captions indicate that she deployed from Groton in July 2014 for a six-month cruise to the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) area of responsibility under U.S. Sixth Fleet. During this deployment the submarine reportedly steamed more than 40,000 nautical miles and carried out a range of missions associated with maritime security operations and the execution of the Chief of Naval Operations' maritime strategy in the North Atlantic and adjacent seas. Her presence aligned with a period of heightened NATO focus on undersea surveillance and deterrence in the wake of Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and increased Russian submarine activity in the North Atlantic. Port visits during this first deployment reflected both geographic diversity and NATO partnerships. CALIFORNIA called at Haakonsvern, Norway; Rota, Spain; Faslane, Scotland; and Brest, France. A photograph dated October 17, 2014, shows her departing Brest, indicating a fall 2014 visit on France's Atlantic coast. These port calls allowed the crew rest and resupply while reinforcing interoperability with allied navies and symbolizing U.S. undersea presence across northern and southwestern European waters.

CALIFORNIA completed this maiden deployment when she returned to Naval Submarine Base New London on January 24, 2015. Under Cmdr. Shawn Huey, she came home from the EUCOM area with her crew having gained their first extended operational experience, and the boat now fully integrated into Atlantic Fleet deployment cycles. Public accounts note the distance covered, the variety of waters transited, and the sequence of European port visits, marking the deployment as a successful proof of concept for the VIRGINIA-class operating in the North Atlantic and High North, where anti-submarine warfare and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions are central to NATO deterrence posture.

After the maiden deployment, CALIFORNIA remained homeported in Groton and continued training and operations under Atlantic Fleet control. In 2015, command passed from Cmdr. Shawn Huey to Cmdr. Dave Payne during a change-of-command ceremony in Groton, as the submarine transitioned from initial deployment into the routine rhythm of Fleet assignments and maintenance. Under Payne's leadership, CALIFORNIA maintained high operational readiness and prepared for further deployments amid a strategic environment increasingly focused on great-power competition in the undersea domain.

By early 2017, CALIFORNIA was again active in forward European waters. On January 13, 2017, she was documented at Rota, Spain, where her crew conducted an expeditionary ordnance loading exercise using inert MK-48 heavyweight training torpedoes. The exercise, captured in U.S. Navy imagery and later cited in public analyses of Russian submarine activity, demonstrated the ability of U.S. attack submarines to reload weapons in forward European ports, enhancing flexibility and endurance in the EUCOM theater. The evolution took place at an installation that also supports U.S. surface and air units and NATO operations in the Strait of Gibraltar and eastern Atlantic approaches.

In 2018, CALIFORNIA undertook another major deployment to the European Command area. She left Groton in the spring for a six-month deployment under U.S. Sixth Fleet, returning on September 21, 2018. Under Cmdr. Dave Payne, she again executed missions aligned with the CNO's maritime strategy, including maritime security operations and support to national security objectives in the North Atlantic and European waters. During this deployment, CALIFORNIA steamed approximately 42,000 nautical miles and made port calls in Faslane, Scotland, and Haakonsvern, Norway, serving as an ambassador of the U.S. Navy and Submarine Force during these visits. Her operations occurred against the backdrop of renewed NATO emphasis on undersea warfare in the Norwegian Sea and North Atlantic, with Commander, Task Force 69 directing U.S. submarine activities in the Sixth Fleet area.

Upon return to Groton on September 21, 2018, CALIFORNIA completed what public accounts describe as a routine patrol, but one clearly embedded in a broader strategic effort to monitor and, if required, counter Russian naval activity from the Barents and Norwegian seas into the North Atlantic.

After the 2018 deployment, CALIFORNIA transitioned into a major maintenance phase. On May 14, 2019, she arrived at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) in Kittery, Maine, for an Extended Docking Selected Restricted Availability (EDSRA), the class's planned deep maintenance and modernization period at roughly the six-year mark. Local reporting and Navy photo archives show the submarine entering PNSY for scheduled maintenance and modernization, reflecting the Navy's revised VIRGINIA-class maintenance cycle that lengthened the interval between EDSRAs compared with earlier practice.

When Cmdr. James Henry took command of CALIFORNIA in March 2020, the submarine was still in drydock at Portsmouth, midway through her EDSRA. The availability coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which complicated shipyard work across the Navy. Nonetheless, PNSY and the crew achieved what would later be described as record performance: by June 6, 2021, CALIFORNIA departed Portsmouth for sea trials, and on June 12, 2021, she was photographed transiting up the Thames River to Naval Submarine Base New London, returning home after the extended maintenance period. NAVSEA reported on June 16, 2021, that Portsmouth Naval Shipyard had delivered CALIFORNIA back to the fleet on June 15 as the fastest EDSRA completed since the maintenance cycle was adjusted, emphasizing that the yard had undocked the submarine and completed follow-on steaming milestones ahead of schedule despite pandemic constraints.

The EDSRA upgraded CALIFORNIA's systems and hull for the next phase of her service life. In addition to standard structural, mechanical, and electrical overhauls, such availabilities typically include combat system updates, sonar and electronic support measures enhancements, and refurbishments intended to keep the submarine tactically effective in increasingly contested undersea environments. Public imagery from June 2021 shows CALIFORNIA's return to Groton, underscoring the re-entry of an upgraded attack submarine into the Submarine Force Atlantic inventory.

With EDSRA complete and sea trials successful, CALIFORNIA quickly moved from maintenance back to operational employment. Under Cmdr. James Henry, she re-joined the deployment preparation cycle and, in 2022, was tasked with a short-notice "surge" deployment. On December 8, 2022, CALIFORNIA returned to Naval Submarine Base New London following a four-month deployment to the U.S. European Command area of operations. The Navy described this as an unscheduled surge deployment executed on short notice, highlighting the crew's ability to ramp quickly from post-maintenance readiness into forward operations. The deployment occurred in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which prompted intensified NATO maritime patrols, including an undersea component designed to reassure allies and deter Russian activity in the North Atlantic and European littorals.

Details of CALIFORNIA's 2022 surge deployment, including specific operating areas and any port visits, remain largely classified or undisclosed, which is typical for attack submarine patrols. Public reporting, however, confirms that she operated under U.S. Sixth Fleet and Commander, Task Force 69 in EUCOM waters, reinforcing NATO undersea presence during a period of heightened tension and serving as a flexible, stealthy asset able to contribute to intelligence collection, anti-submarine warfare, and strike readiness as required.

In early 2023, CALIFORNIA took part in Exercise AGILE PLAYER 23 (AP23), an Atlantic submarine force readiness exercise designed to test the ability of submarines to deploy on short notice and operate jointly with other forces. A May 3, 2023 photo from Naval Submarine Base New London shows sailors on CALIFORNIA loading supplies as the submarine gets underway as part of AGILE PLAYER 23, while broader Navy reporting explains that submarines from multiple homeports, including Norfolk, Kings Bay and Groton, were surged to demonstrate flexibility and lethality. AP23 focused on rapid deployment, anti-submarine warfare readiness, and the capacity of undersea forces to support global tasking.

Two days later, on May 5, 2023, CALIFORNIA held a change-of-command ceremony pierside at Naval Submarine Base New London. Cmdr. James Henry formally turned over command to Cmdr. Kenneth Kirkwood, with Capt. Thomas O'Donnell, Commander Submarine Squadron TWELVE, presiding. The ceremony's official account notes that Henry had assumed command in March 2020 while CALIFORNIA was in EDSRA at Portsmouth and that, under his leadership, the submarine completed the maintenance period in record time, returned to the fleet in 2021, and executed the 2022 short-notice surge deployment to EUCOM. The event also highlighted the crew's numerous qualifications and retention achievements during this period, reflecting the submarine's successful transition from shipyard to operational tempo under challenging conditions.

Under Cmdr. Kirkwood, CALIFORNIA continued to operate from Groton as part of Submarine Squadron TWELVE and Submarine Readiness Squadron 32. Later in 2023, she deployed again to the U.S. European Command area, this time on a scheduled six-month deployment that extended into early 2024. On February 14, 2024, the submarine returned to Naval Submarine Base New London, concluding this deployment under Kirkwood's command. The official homecoming release notes that CALIFORNIA steamed nearly 39,000 nautical miles during the six months at sea and made port calls in Norway, Scotland, and Spain, again underscoring her role in reinforcing NATO relationships and interoperability. While the specific ports are not publicly named in that account, the pattern of visits mirrors earlier deployments to North Atlantic and European waters.

The 2024 deployment occurred in the same strategic context as the 2022 surge: continued Russian operations in the North Atlantic and Arctic, NATO's heightened concern for undersea infrastructure and sea lines of communication, and ongoing war in Ukraine. Within this environment, CALIFORNIA contributed to the persistent, largely unseen undersea presence that the U.S. Navy and its allies maintain in key maritime chokepoints and open-ocean patrol areas. Her operations would have involved anti-submarine warfare training and patrols, intelligence collection, and readiness to conduct strike or special operations support if required, though such mission details remain classified and are not disclosed in open sources.

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USS CALIFORNIA Image Gallery:

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