Career
Awarded:	11 February 1982
Laid down:	24 September 1984
Launched:	14 December 1985
Commissioned:	8 November 1986
Status:
Homeport:	Pearl Harbor
General Characteristics
Displacement:	5789 tons light, 6185 tons full, 396 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
Armament:	12 VLS Tomahawk missiles, four 21-inch torpedo tubes
Motto:	Slugger

USS Louisville (SSN-724), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for Louisville, Kentucky. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 11 February 1982 and her keel was laid down on 24 September 1984. She was launched on 14 December 1985 sponsored by Mrs. Kinnaird McKee, and commissioned on 8 November 1986 with Commander Charles E. Ellis in command.

Louisville serves as a trials platform for the prototype BQQ-10 ARCI sonars, which incorporate off-the-shelf computer components, allowing easy introduction of modular upgrades.

four years of history missing

In January and February 1991, as Operation Desert Storm began, Louisville carried out the first war patrol conducted by an American submarine since World War II. The patrol began with a 14,000-mile submerged, high-speed transit across the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean to the Red Sea. Shortly after noon on 19 January, she launched Tomahawk cruise missiles against targets in Iraq, becoming the first submarine to launch Tomahawks in combat. For this war patrol, Louisville was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation.

13 years of history missing

See USS Louisville for other ships of the same name.

References

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register and various press releases.