USS Houston (SSN-713)

USS Houston (SSN-713), a Los Angeles-class 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 Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on August 1^st, 1975 and her keel was laid down on January 29^th, 1979. She was launched on March 21^st, 1981 sponsored by Barbara Bush, wife of then Vice-President of the United States George H. W. Bush. Houston was commissioned on September 25^th 1982, with Captain G. H. Mensch in command. Curiously, her hull number matches the area code for the interior portion (inside the Beltway/Sam Houston Tollway, as of 2000) of Metropolitan Houston, which is also 713, but at the time she was built 713 encompassed most of Metro Houston within Harris County.

History

Houston took part in a NATO exercise in March 1989, where it and the British nuclear submarine Trenchant were defeated by CP-121 Trackers from the Canadian aircraft carrier Eagle.

In mid-2004, Houston took part in the RIMPAC 2004 where it and Seawolf were "sunk" by the Canadian nuclear submarine Lake Superior.