USS South Dakota (SSN 790)

USS SOUTH DAKOTA History:

USS SOUTH DAKOTA is a Block III VIRGINIA-class nuclear-powered fast attack submarine built by General Dynamics Electric Boat as part of the U.S. Navy's long-term effort to replace the LOS ANGELES-class and maintain a modern undersea force. The contract to build the boat was awarded on December 22, 2008, to a team led by Electric Boat in partnership with Huntington Ingalls Industries, formalizing plans for the seventeenth VIRGINIA-class hull and the seventh of the Block III configuration. In keeping with the Navy's tradition of honoring states, the Secretary of the Navy announced in 2008 that hull number SSN 790 would bear the name South Dakota. On June 23, 2012, this decision was marked with a ship-naming ceremony at the Battleship SOUTH DAKOTA Memorial in Sioux Falls, where the name was formally bestowed in front of state and Navy representatives. Deanie Dempsey, wife of Army General Martin Dempsey, was announced as the submarine's sponsor, linking the future boat to both the state and the legacy of the World War II battleship SOUTH DAKOTA (BB 57).

Electric Boat began module fabrication for USS SOUTH DAKOTA in 2013, assembling the hull sections at its facilities in Rhode Island and Connecticut as part of the established VIRGINIA-class modular construction approach. The keel-laying ceremony, which formally marks the start of the ship's construction in Navy tradition, took place on April 4, 2016, at an Electric Boat yard, where sponsor Deanie Dempsey authenticated the keel block in the presence of shipyard workers, Navy officials and representatives from the state of South Dakota. Over the next year, the modules were integrated into a complete hull, systems were installed, and the submarine was prepared for launching. On October 14, 2017, SOUTH DAKOTA was christened at Electric Boat's Groton shipyard, with the sponsor breaking a ceremonial bottle across the bow and the ceremony emphasizing the boat's role as a testbed for "acoustic superiority" improvements meant to enhance the stealth of the entire VIRGINIA-class.

The hull was launched on February 1, 2018, sliding into the water at Groton to begin the transition from construction to trials. During builder's and acceptance trials in August 2018, SOUTH DAKOTA operated at sea off the New England coast while Navy and shipyard teams evaluated propulsion, combat systems, sensors and quieting features, including the new acoustic-superiority elements associated with what the acquisition community referred to as the SOUTH DAKOTA Insertion Program. After the completion of these trials and correction of deficiencies, the Navy accepted delivery of the submarine on September 24, 2018, bringing her formally into the fleet while she remained under post-delivery control of the builder for further work. USS SOUTH DAKOTA thus became the seventeenth VIRGINIA-class attack submarine to join the Navy.

Following delivery, SOUTH DAKOTA entered a post-delivery work period and post-shakedown availability in Groton, during which Electric Boat carried out a series of alterations and upgrades. DoD contracting announcements in March 2019 and July 2020 describe substantial cost-plus-fixed-fee awards to Electric Boat for planning and execution of SOUTH DAKOTA's post-delivery work period, including installation of a redesigned stern-area system and related acoustic-superiority features, with work scheduled to run through December 2020. These efforts were part of the broader acoustic-superiority initiative aimed at improving the detection and survivability characteristics of VIRGINIA-class submarines, and official test and evaluation documentation notes that SOUTH DAKOTA completed her guarantee material inspection without significant discrepancies as this period drew to a close. Except for sea trials connected with this work, the submarine spent most of this phase in and around Groton, shifting between Naval Submarine Base New London and nearby Electric Boat facilities while technicians completed internal modifications and systems refinements.

Even before the post-delivery work period was fully underway, SOUTH DAKOTA began to show up in fleet exercises. On February 2, 2019, the submarine was commissioned at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, becoming the Navy's newest VIRGINIA-class fast attack submarine. The ceremony, attended by Navy leadership, state dignitaries and guests from South Dakota, formally placed the ship in active service. Cmdr. Craig Litty, the first commanding officer, took command of the crew as they brought the ship to life. The Navy highlighted that SOUTH DAKOTA, a Block III boat with two large-diameter payload tubes forward, would perform the full spectrum of attack-submarine missions, from anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare to intelligence collection, strike and support to special operations. Homeported at Groton and assigned to Submarine Squadron 4 (SUBRON 4), SOUTH DAKOTA joined the Atlantic fleet at a time of renewed emphasis on undersea operations in the North Atlantic and European theaters.

Soon after commissioning, SOUTH DAKOTA joined a major fleet training event. On February 5, 2019, the submarine departed Groton to support the Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) for the carrier strike group built around USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72), the key work-up event that certifies a strike group for deployment. As part of this evolution, SOUTH DAKOTA operated with the carrier and its escorts in the western Atlantic, providing realistic undersea opposition and sharpening the group's anti-submarine warfare training. During the exercise, she moored at Wharf D2 at Naval Station Mayport, Florida, from February 8-14, 2019, using the port call to reset and embark or disembark personnel before returning to sea with the strike group. Later that month, she returned to Groton, having completed her first extended underway period as a commissioned unit.

From mid-2019 through the end of 2020, SOUTH DAKOTA's publicly visible activity was dominated by her post-delivery and post-shakedown work. Multiple Navy contracts describe continuing planning and execution of this availability in Groton, including significant work on the stern area and other systems associated with the acoustic-superiority insertion, with completion predicted by December 2020. Throughout this time, the submarine alternated between periods in dry dock or alongside at Electric Boat and short underways for testing and trials off the New England coast, validating the new equipment and ensuring the boat met fleet standards before she began regular deployments.

In 2021, as the boat transitioned fully into routine fleet operations, command of SOUTH DAKOTA changed hands. On September 27, 2021, a change-of-command ceremony was held at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, during which Cmdr. Adam Zaker was introduced in official Navy imagery as the incoming commanding officer. The event was overseen by Capt. John Stafford, commander of Submarine Squadron 4. Around this time, publicly released photographs show SOUTH DAKOTA operating in and out of Groton, indicating a pattern of training, certifications and local operations as the crew prepared for future deployments under new leadership.

By 2022, USS SOUTH DAKOTA was ready for her first overseas deployment. She departed Groton for a deployment of about five months to the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) area of responsibility. During this period, she steamed more than 30,000 nautical miles, operating primarily in the North Atlantic and adjacent waters during a period of heightened tension with Russia following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The submarine conducted undersea surveillance and presence missions in support of U.S. and allied deterrence and reassurance efforts, operating as part of the wider U.S. Sixth Fleet and NATO maritime posture. One of the few documented liberty stops during this deployment was a port visit to Tromso in northern Norway, where the boat moored in early December 2022, part of a broader pattern of allied submarines using Norwegian facilities to support under-ice and high-latitude operations.

On December 18, 2022, SOUTH DAKOTA returned to Naval Submarine Base New London, arriving up the Thames River with holiday decorations and Santa Claus visible topside during the homecoming. Navy reporting described this as a five-month deployment under the command of Cmdr. Adam Zaker and emphasized the boat's contribution to deterrence and alliance commitments in Europe. The homecoming, just before Christmas, allowed the crew to reunite with families after months of operations far from home.

In 2023, SOUTH DAKOTA again spent extended periods at sea. Official imagery documents the submarine returning to Groton from "deployed operations" on December 12, 2023. Photographs from that day show the boat transiting the Thames River during a homecoming event, once more under SUBRON 4, indicating that she had completed another significant period of operations overseas, though the theater and specific activities have not been publicly specified. Taken together, the back-to-back 2022 and 2023 deployments illustrate how quickly SOUTH DAKOTA transitioned from post-delivery work into sustained operational employment in the Atlantic and European regions.

At the beginning of 2024, SOUTH DAKOTA's pattern of operations shifted southward. In February 2024, she became the first VIRGINIA-class submarine to enter the TRIDENT Refit Facility, Kings Bay (TRF-KB) dry dock in Georgia, a noteworthy milestone because that dry dock has historically supported OHIO-class ballistic-missile and guided-missile submarines. The refit facility's public communication highlighted the significance of accommodating a VIRGINIA-class boat, reflecting Navy efforts to add maintenance capacity for attack submarines at Kings Bay. During this period, the submarine, together with her crew, operated from Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay while dockyard personnel performed maintenance and whatever modifications the Navy scheduled for the availability.

While at Kings Bay, SOUTH DAKOTA again underwent a change in leadership. On February 23, 2024, a change-of-command ceremony was held at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay during which Cmdr. Burnes C. W. Brown assumed command of the submarine.

After completing her dry-dock period at Kings Bay, SOUTH DAKOTA returned to the Groton area. Photography compiled in open-source archives shows the submarine once again returning to Naval Submarine Base New London on July 25, 2024, confirming that after her maintenance at Kings Bay she resumed operating from her original homeport. From this point, publicly available information consists mainly of images of the boat underway or alongside at Groton, reflecting routine operations and training sorties in the western Atlantic under her new commanding officer. As of 2025, USS SOUTH DAKOTA remains in active service, assigned to Submarine Squadron 4 and homeported at Groton.

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