The USS Cincinnati (SSN-693) was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. It was a Los Angeles-class submarine. Sometimes referred to as the LA class or 688 class, vessels in this class are nuclear-powered fast attack submarines, forming the backbone of the United States submarine fleet. The Los Angeles class is the most numerous class of nuclear powered submarines in the world. This class of submarines can reach a top speed of over 25 knots and submerge to depths exceeding 650 feet.

Cincinnati’s contract was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, located in Newport News, Virginia on February 4, 1971. Cincinnati’s keel was laid down on April 6, 1974, and was launched on February 19, 1977, sponsored by Mrs. William J. Keating of Cincinnati, Ohio. With Commander Gilbert V. Wilkes, III in command, the USS Cincinnati was commissioned on June 10, 1978.

Notable Moments

The USS Cincinnati has a few missions of note. In August of 1979 the submarine rescued a Finnish sailor who had been in the waters off the coast of Florida for 22 hours after he had gone overboard from a Finnish freighter. Also, in 1980 after patrolling the Mediterranean Sea the Cincinnati was paid a visit by former U.S. president Richard M. Nixon and Admiral Hymen G. Rickover, the “Father” of the nuclear Navy, so the two men could attend a “familiarization and orientation cruise.”

Decommissioning

On July 29, 1996, the USS Cincinnati was decommissioned and stricken from the US Naval Vessel Registry. USS Cincinnati entered the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program in 2012 in Bremerton, Washington, at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, which is the only location the United States Navy utilizes to dispose of and recycle decommissioned nuclear vessels.  After dismantling, the ship’s conning tower or sail, the forward planes attached to the sail, the upper rudder and the emergency diesel engine generator (aka, the “Bid Red Machine”) were welcomed by a large crowd as they arrived in Cincinnati on August 24, 2013. They will be repaired, repainted and used to complete the full size replica of USS Cincinnati at the Memorial.