The fifth Atlanta, (SSN-712)  a Los Angeles-class submarine, was laid down on 17 August 1978 at Newport New, Va., by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; launched on 16 August 1980; sponsored by Mrs. Sam Nunn; and commissioned on 6 March 1982, Comdr. Robin J. White in command.

 

The nuclear-powered attack submarine carried out shakedown training along the New England coast after commissioning. On 15 May 1982, she reentered the yard at the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. for five months of post-shakedown repairs. Late in October, Atlanta began operations out of her home port, Norfolk, Va. That duty carried her through the rest of 1982 and almost all of the first six months of 1983. On 20 June 1983, the warship embarked upon her first overseas deployment. During that five-month tour of duty, she called at ports in Scotland, England, and Norway before returning to Norfolk on 23 November. In January of 1984, Atlanta cruised to the West Indies as a school ship for prospective commanding officers and then returned to normal operations out of Norfolk during the spring and summer. In September, the warship took part in a fleet readiness exercise "READEX 2-84" and then resumed duty out of Norfolk.

 

The beginning of 1985 found Atlanta in port at the Naval Base, Norfolk, completing a restricted availability. In February,she practised torpedo firing in the Bahamas and took part in mine warfare drills near Port Everglades, Fla. March brought a weapons technical proficiency inspection, and in April, the nuclear submarine participated in the fleet exercise "COMPTUEX 2-85." Late that summer, she got underway for two months of operations at sea. The warship returned to her home port that fall and resumed duty in the local operating area.

 

Atlanta spent the first month of 1986 getting ready for an overseas deployment. She embarked upon that assignment in February and on 29 April 1986 Atlanta ran aground in the Straits of Gibraltar, damaging her sonar gear and puncturing a ballast tank in the bow section. The boat proceeded to Gibraltar under her own power. After a week, the Atlanta returned to Norfolk, VA under it's own power, and was repaired in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, VA.   Atlanta then operated in the West Indies for a time early that summer. In August and September, the nuclear submarine took part in an eight-week NATO exercise that brought with it visits to a Canadian and a Norwegian port. She returned to Norfolk in October and resumed local operations along the eastern seaboard for the remainder of the year. As of the beginning of 1987, Atlanta was at Norfolk preparing for overseas movement. She was the first submarine certified to employ the MK-48 torpedo and both Harpoon missiles and Tomahawk missiles. She was also the first nuclear-powered submarine assigned to directly support an Amphibious Ready Group (ARG).

 

Atlanta was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 16 December 1999. Ex-Atlanta was berthed at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia, awaiting entry into the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program in Bremerton, Washington.

Awarded: 1 August 1975
Laid down: 17 August 1978
Launched: 16 August 1980
Commissioned: 6 March 1982
Fate: submarine recycling
Stricken: 16 December 1999
General Characteristics
Displacement: 5732 tons light, 6160 tons full, 428 tons dead
Length: 110.3 meters (362 feet)
Beam: 10 meters (33 feet)
Draft: 9.7 meters (32 feet)
Depth: 1200 feet
Propulsion: one S6G reactor
Armament: four 21-inch torpedo tubes
Complement: 12 officers, 98 men
Motto: Resurgens ("Rise Again")