USS Bowfin - USS Ohio

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USS Ohio
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Education Program
USS Ohio (SSBN-726)

History Of Ships Named Ohio

USS OHIO (SSBN-726) is the first TRIDENT Class nuclear powered fleet ballistic missile submarine and the fourth United States vessel to bear the name of the seventeenth state of the union.

The first OHIO, a merchant schooner purchased by the Navy in 1812, was converted to a warship and commissioned in 1813. She served on Lake Erie during the War of 1812 in a squadron commanded by Commodore Oliver H. Perry.

The second OHIO, a sailing ship-of-the-line, was launched in 1820. The ship was refitted in 1838 and served as flagship for Commodore Isaac Hull in the Mediterranean. She was decommissioned in 1841. To meet the needs of the Mexican War, OHIO was recommissioned on 7 December 1846. She sailed for the Gulf of Mexico in 1847 and served in the Pacific Squadron for the next three years. The second OHIO was finally decommissioned in 1875.

The third ship, USS OHIO (BB-12), was launched in 1901 and commissioned in 1904. Designated Flagship of the Asiatic Fleet, USS OHIO (BB- 12) departed San Francisco in 1905 for Manila and served in the Asiatic Fleet for several years. After the United States entered World War 1, OHIO acted as a training ship and operated from Norfolk. The OHIO (BB-12) was one of the battleships that circled the world as part of President Theodore Roosevelt's Great White Fleet. She was placed in reserve in 1919 and decommissioned in 1922.

The current USS OHIO (SSBN-726) is the lead ship of the TRIDENT Class. Her keel was laid by Mrs. Robert Taft, wife of Senator Taft, on 10 April 1976, at Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation, Groton, Connecticut. On 2 February 1978, the OHIO Precommissioning Unit was formed. Commander A. K. Thompson was its Commanding Officer.

On 7 April 1979, OHIO was launched and christened by Mrs. Annie Glenn, wife of Senator John H. Glenn. In the summer of 1981, several sea trials were held to test the equipments, systems and ship that were to be accepted by the United States Navy. These sea trials were an unqualified success.

On 11 November 1981, USS OHIO was commissioned at Electric Boat Division in Groton, Connecticut. The principal speaker, The Honorable George Bush, Vice President of the United States, remarked to the 8,000 assembled guests that the ship introduced a 'new dimension in our nation's strategic deterrence.' During the ceremony, Admiral Hyman G. Rickover noted that OHIO should 'strike fear in the hearts of our enemies'. On that day, Captain A. K. Thompson assumed command of USS OHIO (SSBN-726) BLUE and Captain A. F. Campbell assumed command of USS OHIO (SSBN-726) GOLD.

Following Post Shakedown Availability at Electric Boat Division, OHIO left the Atlantic and transited to her new home port, Bangor, Washington, arriving on 12 August 1982.

During August and September 1982, the first loadout of TRIDENT C-4 missiles on a TRIDENT Class submarine and a predeployment refit were conducted. USS OHIO and her Blue Crew departed on the first TRIDENT Submarine Strategic Deterrent Patrol in October 1982. Since then, OHIO has conducted over fifty strategic deterrent patrols.

In June 1993, OHIO entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to undergo the first TRIDENT overhaul. The overhaul was successfully completed in June 1994.

USS Ohio

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