USS La Jolla
USS La Jolla is a, named for the La Jolla community in San Diego, California. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 10 December 1973 and her keel was laid down on 16 October 1976. She was launched on 11 August 1979 sponsored by Mrs. Jean Bryant Wilson, wife of Congressman Bob Wilson, and commissioned on 24 October 1981. In 2017, La Jolla was converted to a Moored Training Ship and is currently stationed at NPTU Charleston in Goose Creek, SC.
Service history
During the sea trials for La Jolla, an unexpected depth excursion occurred during a propulsion plant "crash back" test at the direction of Admiral Hyman G. Rickover. In late 1982, about 30 miles out of San Francisco, La Jolla, while at periscope depth, collided with the submarine, operating on the surface. La Jolla suffered minor rudder damage, while putting a scrape in the paint on Permits keel. La Jolla was the first to successfully test fire a Tomahawk cruise missile while submerged at the Pacific Missile Test Center on 29 April 1983.The first West Pacific cruise was between August 1984 and February 1985, in which La Jolla visited ports in Olongapo Philippines, Hong Kong, Chinhae Korea, and Yokosuka, Japan. All crew members participating in the second half of the 1984–85 West-Pac cruise received the Navy Expeditionary Medal for operations in the Sea of Japan.
On 11 February 1998, about 9 miles out of Chinhae, South Korea, La Jolla accidentally ran into and sank a 27-ton fishing trawler. The five crewmembers of the trawler were rescued by the crew of La Jolla. In 2000, La Jolla was modified to carry a Dry Deck Shelter. On 23 August 2004, La Jolla returned to Pearl Harbor after a six-month deployment in the Pacific Ocean. She conducted port visits in Korea, Japan, Singapore, Saipan, and Guam, and participated in five international exercises, including Pacific Reach 2004.