USS Florida (SSBN-728)
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| Career
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| Ordered:
| 28 February 1975
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| Laid down:
| 19 January 1981
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| Launched:
| 14 November 1981
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| Commissioned:
| 18 June 1983
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| Decommissioned:
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| Fate:
| Active, to be reclassified
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| Homeport:
| Norfolk, Virginia
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| Motto:
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| General Characteristics
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| Displacement:
| 15,282 tons
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| Length:
| 560 ft (171 m)
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| Beam:
| 42 ft (13 m)
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| Draught:
| 38 ft (12 m)
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| Propulsion:
| Steam Turbine (Nuclear)
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| Speed:
|
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| Complement:
| 13 officers and 140 enlisted
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| Armament:
| 2 12", 3 4", 1 3"
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The fifth USS Florida (SSBN-728) is an Ohio-class submarine in the United States Navy. She is one of the first ships to be converted to a SSGN.
The keel of the USS Florida was laid on the occasion of the nation's Bicentennial, July 4, 1976, at General Dynamics' Electric Boat Division. The ship was unnamed at the keel-laying ceremony and remained that way until January 19, 1981, when the Secretary of the Navy officially assigned it the name Florida.
The initial ship's crew formed the precommissioning unit on July 8, 1980. The first shipboard watches were stationed on February 14, 1981 to support the operational control transfer of engineering systems to ship's force control.
On November 14, 1981, the Florida was launched. Following a year of construction and testing, the ship's nuclear reactor was initially taken critical on November 13, 1982. The ship went into service and the crew moved onboard on January 21, 1983. Florida commenced initial builders' sea trials on February 21, 1983 and was subsequently delivered to the Navy on May 17, 1983—43 days ahead of schedule. The ship was commissioned on June 18, 1983.
Both crews successfully completed the demonstration and shakedown operations, each culminated by the successful launch of a Trident C-4 missile. Florida transited the Panama Canal in February and arrived in Bangor, Washington on 25 March 1984. She completed her first strategic deterrent patrol on July 25, 1984. As of November 1994, Florida had successfully completed 38 strategic deterrent patrols.
Florida entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard in July 2003 to undergo a refueling and conversion from an SSBN to an SSGN. Florida is scheduled to complete her conversion and rejoin the fleet in 2006. See the article on the class for more information regarding the conversion.
See USS Florida for other ships of this name.
