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USS Cheyenne (SSN 773)

USS CHEYENNE is the 62^nd and last LOS ANGELES-class Attack Submarine. Because of the great number of ships in that class, there were already some decommissioned sister ships, when USS CHEYENNE was commissioned.

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Crew List:

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

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USS CHEYENNE History:

USS CHEYENNE, the last of the LOS ANGELES-class submarines to enter U.S. Navy service, began her story when the construction contract was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, on November 28, 1989, as part of the final tranche of 688I boats intended to give the U.S. Pacific Fleet a modern, vertical-launch capable attack submarine force at the end of the Cold War. Her keel was laid there on July 6, 1992, and she took shape as an "Improved LOS ANGELES" with strengthened sail and fairwater planes, under-ice capability and twelve vertical launch tubes for TOMAHAWK cruise missiles. On April 16, 1995, she was launched, sponsored by Ann Simpson, wife of Wyoming senator Alan K. Simpson - a deliberate link between the boat and her namesake city, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

After fitting-out and trials, USS CHEYENNE was commissioned on September 13, 1996, with Commander Peter H. Ozimk as her first commanding officer, formally joining the U.S. Pacific Fleet as the final unit of the sixty-two-strong LOS ANGELES-class.

Open sources say little about CHEYENNE's first years beyond the normal cycle of post-shakedown workups and local operations, but by 1998 she had shifted her homeport to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, under Commander, Submarine Squadron 7, anchoring her career firmly in the Pacific theater. This move aligned her with the U.S. Navy's emphasis on Asia-Pacific presence missions and carrier battle group support at a time when attention was focused both on maintaining sanctions and no-fly-zone enforcement against Iraq and on rising concerns about the Western Pacific security environment.

CHEYENNE's first clearly documented major deployment began on August 23, 2000, when she departed Pearl Harbor as part of the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72) battle group for a scheduled western Pacific and Indian Ocean deployment, operating chiefly in the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas. The ABRAHAM LINCOLN group included cruisers USS SHILOH (CG 67) and USS BUNKER HILL (CG 52), destroyer USS PAUL HAMILTON (DDG 60), destroyer USS FLETCHER (DD 992), frigate USS CROMMELIN (FFG 37), fast combat support ship USS CAMDEN (AOE 2), and fellow attack submarine USS TUCSON (SSN 770).

After crossing the Pacific, USS CHEYENNE made a port visit to Yokosuka, Japan, from September 8-15, 2000. The battle group then moved south and west into the South China Sea and onward toward the Arabian Gulf as part of the long-running posture missions associated with Operation SOUTHERN WATCH, which enforced no-fly zones over Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War. CHEYENNE's individual tasking during this phase is not detailed publicly, but as the group's nuclear-powered attack submarine she would have provided covert surveillance, undersea defense of the carrier and strike-group targeting support in the congested sea lanes of the region.

On November 10, 2000, CHEYENNE entered Changi Naval Base in Singapore for a week-long port visit, giving her crew a break from operations in the Indian Ocean and allowing Singapore-U.S. Navy contacts at a time when Singapore was deepening defense cooperation with Washington. Later that year, she twice visited Manama, Bahrain - from December 14-17 and again from December 24-28 - alongside ABRAHAM LINCOLN and other group units, reflecting the importance of Bahrain as a logistics and command hub for 5th Fleet activities in the Arabian Gulf.

As the deployment wound down, USS CHEYENNE shifted back toward the Pacific. On January 12, 2001, she arrived at HMAS STIRLING near Perth, Australia, for a five-day visit that symbolized enduring U.S.-Australian submarine cooperation, and from January 22-27 she was in Hobart, Tasmania, where the boat's presence underscored the visibility of U.S. undersea forces even in relatively remote ports. On February 6, 2001, CHEYENNE pulled into Apra Harbor, Guam, for a seven-day port call, reinforcing Guam's growing role as a forward logistics node for U.S. submarines. She returned to her homeport at Pearl Harbor on February 23, 2001, marking the end of roughly six months of continuous overseas operations with the carrier battle group.

On February 20, 2002, command of USS CHEYENNE passed from Commander William C. Stacia Jr. to Commander Charles J. Doty, a change that coincided with growing regional tension as the United States maintained its no-fly zone enforcement over Iraq and prepared contingency plans in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Under Doty's leadership, CHEYENNE deployed again from Pearl Harbor on July 31, 2002, for what would become a nine-month deployment to the Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf.

Initially this deployment supported Operation SOUTHERN WATCH and maritime security operations, again in company with USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN and her escorts, but it later transitioned into combat operations during the opening phase of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

When the United States and coalition partners commenced large-scale strikes against Iraq in March 2003, USS CHEYENNE was already on station in the 5th Fleet area. Navy accounts and post-deployment retrospectives describe CHEYENNE as the first ship to launch TOMAHAWK cruise missiles during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, firing within hours of the expiration of the U.S. ultimatum to the Iraqi regime. She subsequently expended her full inventory of TOMAHAWKs in a series of strikes against regime targets, an employment pattern later characterized in Navy reporting as a "clean sweep" of her allotted missile load. After additional operations in support of follow-on phases of the campaign and continued presence in the broader gulf region, CHEYENNE completed the deployment and returned to Pearl Harbor on April 24, 2003.

Only a few months later, on July 22, 2003, USS CHEYENNE entered a dry dock at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a three-month Selected Restricted Availability, a focused maintenance period intended to repair wear from her extended combat deployment and to update selected systems. This dockyard work, carried out at a time when the Pacific attack-submarine force was heavily tasked with global war on terror missions, ensured that the last LOS ANGELES-class boat would remain a fully capable platform for years to come.

In the mid-2000s, CHEYENNE returned to the pattern of Western Pacific operations that characterized much of her career. Photographic records show her in Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, in February 2005, and later that spring at Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, indicating participation in a WESTPAC deployment or extended regional patrols in the post-Iraq-war period. On June 14, 2005, she was again documented at Pearl Harbor hosting visitors.

From March 25-27, 2006, USS CHEYENNE took part in high-end anti-submarine warfare exercises in Hawaiian waters, operating under CARRIER STRIKE GROUP NINE. In this series of events she worked alongside the SEAWOLF-class submarine USS SEAWOLF (SSN 21) and fellow LOS ANGELES-class boats USS GREENEVILLE (SSN 772), USS TUCSON, and USS PASADENA (SSN 752), as well as P-3 ORION maritime patrol aircraft from squadrons VP-4, VP-9 and VP-47. The exercise reflected the U.S. Navy's emphasis on maintaining advanced ASW skills against quiet submarines in the Pacific at a time when regional submarine fleets were growing and modernizing.

Later that year, CHEYENNE again headed west. On October 8, 2006, she departed Pearl Harbor for a western Pacific deployment. From October 16-18, she made a port call at Apra Harbor, Guam, reinforcing Guam's status as a recurring mid-deployment logistics stop. On October 28, the boat arrived at White Beach, Okinawa, for a brief stopover before participating in Tactical Anti-Submarine Warfare Exercise "TASWEX-04" from October 29 to November 10, an exercise series that brought together U.S. surface units, aircraft and submarines to refine coordinated ASW tactics in the Western Pacific.

Immediately afterwards, CHEYENNE joined the annual U.S.-Japan ANNUAL EXERCISE (ANNUALEX), conducted from November 10-19, in the waters near Japan. ANNUALEX - the JMSDF's premier combined exercise with the U.S. Navy - focused on large-scale maritime and air operations, and CHEYENNE's participation underlined the integration of U.S. nuclear attack submarines into allied fleet operations. On November 22, she returned to Apra Harbor for a ten-day repair period, during which voyage repairs and maintenance were completed after the intensive stretch of exercises.

On December 13, 2006, the submarine arrived at Changi Naval Base, Singapore, for a six-day port visit, once again using Singapore as a logistics and liberty hub. She ultimately returned to Pearl Harbor on November 21, 2007, closing out this WestPac operating cycle whose precise at-sea pattern is not fully documented but which clearly centered on combined operations with Japanese and other regional partners.

Photographic evidence places USS CHEYENNE in Apra Harbor again on February 7, 2010, suggesting another Western Pacific or regional patrol early that year.

A few months later, she played a distinctive role in weapons testing and command-and-control experimentation. On May 20, 2010, while operating off the southern coast of California, CHEYENNE fired a Block IV-E TOMAHAWK Land Attack Missile into the China Lake test range in conjunction with U.S. 7th Fleet and NAVAL SPECIAL WARFARE GROUP 3. This test marked the first time a forward-deployed operational command acted as TOMAHAWK strike coordinator and primary missile controller for an operational test launch, demonstrating evolving concepts in long-range precision strike and distributed control of cruise-missile salvos.

On November 22, 2010, Navy public affairs reported that USS CHEYENNE hosted a family cruise from Pearl Harbor, underscoring the boat's role in maintaining ties between submariners and their families during an era of frequent deployments. This kind of event, though not an operational milestone, forms part of the lived history of a ship and her crew, occurring alongside more visible exercises and deployments.

CHEYENNE's operational focus remained the Western Pacific. On April 1, 2011, she departed Pearl Harbor for a scheduled six-month deployment to the Western Pacific region. During this deployment, she visited Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, Singapore, and Guam, operating in what official accounts describe as a "dynamic operational environment" that provided extensive opportunities for submarine qualifications and advanced training. On September 14, 2011, she made a port call at Yokosuka, Japan, reinforcing ties with the JMSDF, and on September 30, 2011, she returned to Pearl Harbor, having steamed more than 25,000 nautical miles and having seen 31 sailors qualify in submarines during the deployment.

In the following year, command of USS CHEYENNE changed hands again. By May 11, 2012, Commander Noel J. Gonzalez was in command, and under his leadership the boat prepared for another WESTPAC cruise. On December 13, 2012, she departed Pearl Harbor for a scheduled six-month deployment to the Western Pacific. Early in this deployment, CHEYENNE arrived at Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, on February 1, 2013, for a routine port call. The visit, widely reported in Philippine and U.S. media, reflected both the training component of the deployment and the growing importance of the Philippines in U.S. rebalancing toward the Indo-Pacific.

From Subic Bay, CHEYENNE moved north. On March 20, 2013 she moored at Busan, Republic of Korea, where she was photographed multiple times over March 20 and 22, signaling interoperability with the Republic of Korea Navy at a period of heightened attention to North Korean missile and nuclear developments. On April 9, 2013, she was recorded at Naval Base Guam, in Apra Harbor, Guam, for further maintenance and liberty. After additional operations in the region, USS CHEYENNE returned to Pearl Harbor on June 14, 2013.

In recognition of her performance, CHEYENNE earned the 2013 Battle Efficiency ("Battle E") Award for her class, a point highlighted when, on September 12, 2014, Commander John W. Stafford relieved Commander Noel Gonzalez as commanding officer during a change-of-command ceremony at the submarine piers at Pearl Harbor. Under Commander Stafford the submarine soon deployed again. Official accounts show that CHEYENNE completed a five-month WESTPAC deployment, returning to Pearl Harbor on February 5, 2016. During this deployment, she operated under SUBMARINE GROUP 7, conducted anti-submarine warfare exercises and made at least one port call to Subic Bay in the Philippines, where her crew took part in community-relations projects such as volunteering at a school for physically challenged children and organizing a beach clean-up, reflecting the soft-power aspect of U.S. naval presence. Imaging and historical compilations further show that in January 2016, CHEYENNE was alongside at Yokosuka, providing a dated marker for a Japanese port visit late in that deployment.

After returning from that WESTPAC, USS CHEYENNE quickly reentered high-end training. On June 29, 2016, she departed Pearl Harbor to participate in RIM OF THE PACIFIC (RIMPAC) 2016, the world's largest multinational maritime exercise. Photographs from June 29 and July 2016 show the submarine heading to sea and operating off Hawaii among a large multinational force that included surface combatants, aircraft and submarines from across the Pacific, using complex anti-submarine and anti-surface scenarios designed to test interoperability and advanced war-fighting concepts.

In 2017, CHEYENNE undertook yet another deployment to the Western Pacific. Imagery and historical summaries place her in Busan, Republic of Korea, on June 6, 2017, again underscoring sustained engagement with the ROK Navy amid ongoing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Later that year, she returned to Pearl Harbor on September 8, 2017, closing out this deployment.

Within days, on September 14, 2017, the submarine held a change-of-command ceremony at Pearl Harbor under SUBMARINE SQUADRON 7. By the time of her next major deployment Commander John Gonser would be in command.

CHEYENNE's next documented deployment came toward the end of the decade. By early 2019, she was again in the Western Pacific. Photographic records show her departing Fleet Activities Yokosuka on March 4, 2019, indicative of a port visit in Japan during this cruise. On April 26, 2019, she returned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, concluding the deployment. A DVIDS news release notes that the deployment included participation in the bilateral U.S.-Japan exercise KEEN SWORD, which brings together U.S. and Japanese forces for integrated air and maritime training that reinforces the alliance's ability to respond to regional contingencies. The article also highlights that, during the deployment, a large number of sailors advanced in rate and qualified in submarines, and that the mayor of Cheyenne, Wyoming, traveled to Pearl Harbor to welcome the boat home, reinforcing the symbolic bond between ship and city.

In 2020, USS CHEYENNE spent the year primarily in forward operations and in planning for her later life-extension. On July 15, 2020 she departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam for a regularly scheduled Indo-Pacific deployment, tasked to conduct a full spectrum of operations for 7th Fleet, including anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare. During this period, she operated as a typical forward-deployed PACOM fast-attack submarine, though specific patrol areas and port visits were not publicly detailed. CHEYENNE returned to Pearl Harbor on December 29, 2020.

In November 2020, the Navy publicly identified CHEYENNE as the lead hull for a planned LOS ANGELES-class service life-extension / refueling program, announcing that she would be the first boat to undergo this work at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard - setting the course for the homeport shift and overhaul.

On January 22, 2021, CHEYENNE held a change of command at Pearl Harbor, with Commander Samuel Bell relieving Commander John Gonser. A few months later, on June 28, 2021, she arrived at her new homeport, Naval Submarine Base New London at Groton, Connecticut, shifting from SUBMARINE SQUADRON 7 in Pearl Harbor to SUBMARINE SQUADRON 2 in the Atlantic. In the second half of 2021 she went into the floating dry dock USS SHIPPINGPORT (ARDM 4) at New London for scheduled maintenance and inspections and, while there, served as a platform for large fire-response and familiarity exercises with local civilian fire departments.

In early 2022, CHEYENNE moved north to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, to begin an Engineered Overhaul and refueling. On April 12, 2022, she became the first attack submarine to enter Portsmouth's modernized Dry Dock 1 through the new Super Flood Basin without relying on high tides or buoyancy-assist tanks. That docking marked the start of her role as the lead hull in the LOS ANGELES-class Service Life Extension Program, intended to add roughly ten years to the operational life of each refueled boat.

Through 2022 and 2023 CHEYENNE remained in Dry Dock 1 for this overhaul, while shipyard workers and ship's force carried out extensive hull, mechanical, electrical and reactor work and modernized her combat systems. On March 24, 2023, a change-of-command ceremony at Portsmouth saw Commander Kyle Calton relieve Commander Bell.

The overhaul reached a major milestone in early 2025. The shipyard flooded Dry Dock 1 and on February 6, 2025, CHEYENNE was undocked after roughly three years on the blocks, having completed the core of her Engineered Overhaul and refueling. On February 7, she shifted to a pier berth at the shipyard to continue pier-side work, testing and systems completion. As of late 2025 she remained at Portsmouth in the final stages of this life-extension availability, preparing for sea trials and a return to the operational fleet as a modernized Atlantic-based fast-attack submarine expected to serve well into the 2030s.

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USS CHEYENNE Patch Gallery:

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USS CHEYENNE Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by me and shows the CHEYENNE undergoing maintenance at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hi., on March 19, 2010. Note the open VLS tubes.

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