View source for USS Houston (SSN-713)

{{short description|Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine of the US Navy}}
{{Other ships|USS Houston}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Refimprove|date=March 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Houston (SSN-713).jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Houston'' underway
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag}}
|Ship name=USS ''Houston''
|Ship namesake= City of [[Houston, Texas]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded= 1 August 1975
|Ship builder= [[Northrop Grumman Newport News|Newport News Shipbuilding]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down= 29 January 1979
|Ship launched= 21 March 1981
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 25 September 1982
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=26 August 2016
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|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=26 August 2016
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport= [[Bremerton, Washington]]
|Ship identification=
|Ship motto=*''Semper Vigilans''
*({{langx|la|Always Vigilant}})
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=
|Ship status=Undergoing recycling
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge= [[File:USS Houston SSN 713 Crest.png|150px]]
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class= {{sclass|Los Angeles|submarine}}
|Ship displacement= 5,744 tons light, 6,103 tons full, 359 tons dead
|Ship length=  {{convert|110.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam=  {{convert|10|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draft= {{convert|9.7|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=1599
|Ship decks=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=[[S6G reactor|S6G nuclear reactor]]
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|Ship complement=12 officers, 98 enlisted
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|Ship armament= 4 × {{convert|21|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} [[torpedo tube]]s
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}}
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'''USS ''Houston'' (SSN-713)''', a {{sclass|Los Angeles|submarine|0}} [[attack submarine]], was the fourth ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for [[Houston]], [[Texas]]. The contract to build her was awarded to [[Northrop Grumman Newport News|Newport News Shipbuilding]] and Dry Dock Company in [[Newport News, Virginia]] on 1 August 1975 and her [[keel]] was laid down on 29 January 1979. She was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 21 March 1981 sponsored by [[Barbara Bush (First Lady)|Barbara Bush]], wife of then Vice-President of the United States [[George H. W. Bush]]. ''Houston'' was [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 25 September 1982. 

==History==
{{Expand section|date=March 2022}}
USS Houston was featured in the motion picture "[[The Hunt for Red October]]" representing USS Dallas (SSN-700). As the storyline went, she executed an "emergency blow" to avoid the enemy torpedoes fired at the Soviet submarine Red October. This was done by forcing high pressure air into the her ballast tanks, bringing extreme buoyancy, and causing her to literally "leap" from the water.<ref>{{cite web|title=Houston Heritage |url=https://www.houston.navy.mil/html/history.html|date=8 January 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070726214424/https://www.houston.navy.mil/html/history.html |access-date=11 July 2025 |archive-date=26 July 2007 }}</ref> 

Author [[Robert D. Kaplan]] embedded aboard the ship in the spring of 2005 and recounted his experiences in her for his book ''Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts'' in Chapter Four "Geeks with Tattoos: The Most Driven Men I have Ever Known."<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert D. Kaplan|title=Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts: The American Military in the Air, at Sea, and on the Ground|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vCh2Wby7FrQC&pg=PA119|year=2008|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-47269-4|page=119}}</ref>

=== 2008 radiation leak ===
On 1 August 2008 the Navy reported to CNN that ''Houston'' was found to have been leaking radioactive water for months while on patrol and visiting stations in [[Japan]], [[Guam]] and [[Hawaii]].  The problem was discovered the previous month during servicing at Pearl Harbor. One crewman was exposed to radioactive water but not injured. The Navy reported that the ''Houston''{{'}}s leak released only a "negligible" amount of radioactivity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/08/01/navy.sub.leak/index.html|title=U.S. sub leaked radioactive water, possibly for months|publisher=cnn.com|date=1 August 2008|access-date=25 March 2022}}</ref> The Navy later expanded the estimated time the leak existed to nearly two years, although they maintained the amount of radioactivity leaked was very small – "less than a smoke detector".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/08/07/navy.sub/index.html|title=Navy says sub leaked radiation since 2006|publisher=cnn.com|date=7 August 2008|access-date=25 March 2022}}</ref>

===Final deployment===
On 28 October 2015, ''Houston'' moored in Pearl Harbor, after completing her final scheduled deployment.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160313051416/http://www.navy.mil/view_image.asp?id=205346 U.S. Navy, photo retrieved 1 November 2015]</ref> She was decommissioned on 26 August 2016 in a ceremony at Naval Base Kitsap—Bangor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=96414|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160830170154/http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=96414|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 August 2016|title=US Navy|last=Gray|first=Amanda|date=29 August 2016|website=USS Houston Decommissions After 33 Years of Service|access-date=31 August 2016}}</ref> Since September 21, 2015, she has been in the process of being defueled.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Friedrich |first=Ed |title=USS Dallas completing 36-year-run in Bremerton |url=https://www.kitsapsun.com/story/news/local/2017/05/22/102018676/ |access-date=2025-10-08 |website=Kitsap Sun |language=en-US}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|USS Houston (SSN-713)}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070705104140/https://www.houston.navy.mil/index.asp Official website for USS ''Houston'']
* {{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=SSN713|title=Naval Vessel Register entry for USS ''Houston''}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060503073647/http://www.dcfp.navy.mil/mc/museum/HOUSTON/HOUSTON.htm Ship casualty reports for USS ''Houston'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060726000731/http://www.guam.navy.mil/713.htm USS Houston (SSN 713)]

{{Naval Vessel Register}}
{{Los Angeles class submarines}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houston (Ssn-713)}}
[[Category:Los Angeles-class submarines]]
[[Category:Cold War submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:1981 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Newport News, Virginia]]


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