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USS Augusta (SSN 710)

USS AUGUSTA was the 23^rd LOS ANGELES - class fast attack submarine and the fifth ship in the Navy to bear the name Augusta, however, the first to be named for the capital of the state of Maine. AUGUSTA commenced her inactivation at Norfolk, Va., on April 15, 2008, and was decommissioned on February 11, 2009.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS AUGUSTA. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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Accidents aboard USS AUGUSTA:

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USS AUGUSTA History:

USS AUGUSTA entered the Navy's program for high-end antisubmarine warfare during the late Cold War, when the contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics at Groton. Her keel was laid on April 1, 1982; she was launched on January 21, 1984 with Diana Cohen as sponsor, and she commissioned on January 19, 1985 at Kittery, Maine, joining the Atlantic Fleet with Groton as homeport.

Through 1985 and into 1986, AUGUSTA completed post-commissioning trials, shakedown, and the standard early work-ups for a first operational cycle with Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. On October 31, 1986, while on a routine training patrol in the Atlantic, she suffered damage in an undersea collision that required drydocking at Electric Boat for sonar-dome replacement and bow repairs. The Navy reported no injuries. The repair work was completed on December 13, 1986, returning the submarine to service before year's end. Open-source debate later linked the autumn 1986 episode to the contemporaneous loss of the Soviet K-219, but the U.S. record characterizes AUGUSTA's casualty simply as an undersea collision on routine operations followed by rapid repair at Groton.

In 1987, the boat's role shifted toward tactical development as she came under Submarine Development Squadron Twelve and began acting as a trials platform for the new Wide Aperture Array flank-sonar suite, an early step toward what later became the BQQ-10 Acoustic Rapid COTS Insertion (ARCI) family. Her 1987 command history notes overseas operations bracketed by port periods at Holy Loch, Scotland, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, reflecting the late-Cold-War pattern of North Atlantic forward presence, NATO interoperability, and Arctic/Norwegian Sea training.

AUGUSTA continued that pattern in 1988, executing a North Atlantic deployment from October 21 to December 23, followed immediately by voyage repairs at Holy Loch from December 1 to December 13 - typical of the tender-supported maintenance the U.S. submarine force relied on at the Scottish anchorage. The boat closed the year still attached to Submarine Development Squadron Twelve and homeported at Groton.

Through the early 1990s, she remained an Atlantic Fleet attack submarine operating from Groton, cycling across training, maintenance, and deployments as post-Cold-War missions emphasized surveillance, joint and allied exercises, and refinement of new combat-system baselines. Squadron records from that period reflect specialty departmental awards and communications/medical commendations, consistent with a platform used both operationally and for fleet-wide systems maturation.

By the later 1990s, AUGUSTA's technical relevance was explicitly recognized. Her 1998 command history records formal commendation for work preparing and implementing advanced BQQ-5E/BQQ-10 sonar improvements - evidence of sustained involvement in the acoustic and processing upgrades that defined mid-life LOS ANGELES-class modernization.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, AUGUSTA's operating rhythm aligned to the higher-tempo Atlantic/Mediterranean tasking that preceded the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In January-February 2003, she completed pre-overseas movement workups and certification. She then departed the East Coast on February 10 for a surge Mediterranean deployment. On March 21, 2003 - the opening day of the main air and missile campaign of Operation Iraqi Freedom - AUGUSTA launched assigned Tomahawk land-attack missions and subsequently reloaded TLAMs alongside the submarine tender USS EMORY S. LAND (AS 39) in theater, a textbook example of forward, tender-enabled undersea strike sustainment. Contemporary campaign summaries list AUGUSTA among the mixed U.S.-U.K. submarine force that executed the opening salvo, alongside boats such as USS PROVIDENCE (SSN 719), USS PITTSBURGH (SSN 720), USS KEY WEST (SSN 722), USS LOUISVILLE (SSN 724), USS NEWPORT NEWS (SSN 750), USS SAN JUAN (SSN 751), USS MONTPELIER (SSN 765), USS TOLEDO (SSN 769), USS COLUMBIA (SSN 771), USS CHEYENNE (SSN 773), and Royal Navy units HMS SPLENDID and HMS TURBULENT. Her squadron subsequently awarded AUGUSTA the Battle Efficiency "E" for calendar year 2003.

Following post-deployment upkeep and intermediate maintenance, AUGUSTA prepared for another sustained period at sea. In 2006, she underwent extensive maintenance to posture for a six-month cruise the following year. That 2007 deployment began in March and completed in September. The itinerary included the Mediterranean with at least one brief logistics and liberty stop at Souda Bay, Crete - a standard Sixth Fleet hub for submarine operations and port services. The boat returned to the United States in the autumn to begin the transition toward inactivation.

In early 2008, AUGUSTA shifted to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for inactivation. Reactor disassembly was completed on November 24, 2008. The submarine was formally decommissioned and stricken on February 11, 2009, closing twenty-four years of commissioned service. Her hull subsequently entered the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program, with final dismantlement milestones recorded at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the recycling process completed on November 30, 2021.

USS AUGUSTA's awards include the Arctic Service Medal; Navy Expeditionary Medal; Battle Efficiency Ribbon; Navy Unit Commendation; Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary and Service Medals; and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon(s).

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USS AUGUSTA Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by me and show the AUGUSTA laid-up at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash. Behind the AUGUSTA is her sistership GROTON (SSN 694) and the third sail belongs to the INDIANAPOLIS (SSN 697). The submarine on the left on the second photo is the NARWHAL (SSN 671). The photo was taken on March 14, 2010.

     

The photo below was taken by me and shows a number of decommissioned nuclear-powered attack submarines laid up at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash. The photo was taken from Port Orchard, Wash., on May 12, 2012. The submarines' names are on the photo.

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the AUGUSTA laid up at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., on October 13, 2017.

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