USS Wyoming (SSBN-742)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Wyoming.

USS Wyoming (SSBN-742) is a United States Navy Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine which has been in commission since 1996. She is the fourth US Navy ship to be named USS Wyoming, although it was only the third named after the state of Wyoming.^[a]

USS Wyoming (SSBN-742)

USS Wyoming (SSBN-742) approaches Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay on 9 January 2009.
History
United States
Namesake	State of Wyoming
Ordered	18 October 1989
Builder	General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down	8 August 1991
Launched	15 July 1995
Sponsored by	Mrs. Monika B. Owens
Commissioned	13 July 1996
Homeport	Kings Bay, GA
Motto	Cedant Arma Togae ("Force must yield to law")[1]
Status	in active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class & type	Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine
Displacement	16,764 long tons (17,033 t) surfaced[2][3] 18,750 long tons (19,050 t) submerged[2]
Length	560 ft (170 m)
Beam	42 ft (13 m)[2]
Draft	38 ft (12 m)
Propulsion	1 × S8G PWR nuclear reactor[2] (HEU 93.5%[4][5]) 2 × geared turbines[2] 1 × 325 hp (242 kW) auxiliary motor 1 × shaft @ 60,000 shp (45,000 kW)[2]
Speed	Greater than 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)[6]
Test depth	Greater than 800 feet (240 m)[6]
Complement	15 officers[2][3] 140 enlisted[2][3]
Armament	MK-48 torpedoes 20 × Trident II D-5 ballistic missiles

The contract to build Wyoming was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of the General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 18 October 1989 and her keel was laid down there on 8 August 1991. She was launched on 15 July 1995, sponsored by Mrs. Monika B. Owens, and commissioned on 13 July 1996.

Service history

A captain's mast aboard USS Wyoming during the early 2000s.

Wyoming transits the Intracoastal Waterway; 11 February 2009

1990s

On 26 July 1996, Wyoming arrived at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base, Georgia, becoming the ninth submarine to be home-ported there.

2010s

On 6 June 2012, Wyoming participated in a historic medevac exercise with a Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey making a 12,000 nautical mile flight to collect a stretcher from the submarine.^[7]

On 7 January 2018, she arrived at Norfolk Naval Shipyard to begin a 27-month overhaul to include midlife refueling, technological upgrades, and new berthing spaces for enlisted women.^[8]

Shower video scandal

In 2011, Wyoming became one of the first four submarines to take on female officers. During patrols from August to November 2013 and March to June 2014, four women were secretly recorded in the shower changing room, including midshipmen and officers assigned to the boat. Up to twelve male sailors, all petty officers, were implicated, though it is believed that only one of them made the recordings with a smartphone, and then shared them. Of the twelve sailors that were investigated, ten were prosecuted and convicted, with sentences ranging from prison time to reductions in pay.^[9][10]

2020s

On 9 October 2020, she completed her 27-month overhaul and returned to Kings Bay, GA.^[11]

On 17 September 2021, Wyoming conducted a successful, two-missile test flight of unarmed life-extended Trident II (D5LE) missiles on the Eastern Test Range off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida.^[12]

Wyoming conducted an exchange of command at sea in January 2022. "This regularly scheduled exchange of command at sea demonstrates the continuity and operational flexibility of our sea-based nuclear deterrence operations and our ready, reliable ballistic-submarine force," said a Navy spokesperson.^[13]

On 24 March 2022 Wyoming became the first ballistic submarine in US Navy history to complete a deterrent patrol with enlisted females as part of the crew.^[14]

Notes

1. The first Wyoming, USS Wyoming (1859), was named in honor of the Wyoming Valley in eastern Pennsylvania, nine years before the creation of the Wyoming Territory, which later became the state.