Career
Awarded:	30 June 1988
Laid down:	22 February 1992
Launched:	4 December 1993
Commissioned:	10 December 1994
Status:
Homeport:	Groton, Connecticut
General Characteristics
Displacement:	6000 tons light, 6927 tons full, 927 tons dead
Length:	110.3 meters (362 feet)
Beam:	10 meters (33 feet)
Draft:	9.4 meters (31 feet)
Propulsion:	one S6G reactor
Complement:	12 officers, 98 men

USS Hartford (SSN-768), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Hartford, Connecticut. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 30 June 1988 and her keel was laid down on 22 February 1992. She was launched on 4 December 1993 sponsored by Laura O'Keefe, wife of former Secretary of the Navy Sean O'Keefe, and commissioned on 10 December 1994, with Commander George Kasten in command.

On 25 October 2003, Hartford was ordered out of the harbor at La Maddalena, Italy, to make way for another submarine. She was to run on the surface for 34 minutes, then return to the harbor. However, several pieces of navigational equipment failed and the captain ordered 12 knots, faster than the 9.5 knots allowed for the trip. Meanwhile, a waypoint was entered several hundred yards off its correct location, taking the boat into the shallows. A watchstander warned the control crew that the depth under the keel had suddenly decreased from 150 to 100 feet, a three-minute warning that should have been enough for the boat to stop, but no such order was ever given. Hartford began to run aground two minutes later, slowing abruptly. "Speed on," Captain Parker ordered, a decision that dramatically worsened the damage to his boat and cost him his command.

Hartford returned to La Maddalena for temporary repairs, thence to the United States. During the transit, the boat was restricted in her speed and diving depth, which extended her return trip from two weeks to nearly a month. Most of her lower rudder had been carried away and deep gouges were cut into the submarine's pressure hull, raising questions of structural integrity. The boat remained in the shipyard until January 2004. Repairs cost more than US$9 million.

Commander Christopher Van Metre, the submarine's commanding officer, and Captain Greg Parker, commodore of Submarine Squadron 22, were relieved of duty. Six crewmen on the navigation party were punished for dereliction of duty.

See USS Hartford for other ships of the same name.

References

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, United States Navy press releases, and various news articles.