USS Cheyenne (SSN-773)

USS Cheyenne (SSN-773), the final Los Angeles-class submarine, is the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Cheyenne, Wyoming. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 28 November 1989 and her keel was laid down on 6 July 1992. She was launched on 16 April 1995 sponsored by Mrs. Ann Simpson, wife of Wyoming Senator Alan K. Simpson, and commissioned on 13 September 1996, with Commander Peter H. Ozimik in command. Cheyenne transferred to her homeport of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1998.

Cheyenne served as a trials platform for flat-screen, interoperative sonar displays based on commercially available equipment.

Cheyenne was the first ship to launch Tomahawk missiles in Operation Iraqi Freedom under the command of CDR Charles Doty. Cheyenne would go on to successfully launch her entire complement of Tomahawks, earning a "clean sweep" for combat actions in the final three months of a nine-month deployment. This dubbed her "First To Strike". Her motto is "Ride the Legend".

USS Cheyenne was the final Los Angeles–class submarine built. Following the construction of USS Cheyenne, Newport News began preparation for construction of the Virginia-class submarine.

History
Between 25 and 27 March 2006, a series of anti-submarine warfare exercises were held in Hawaiian waters that included USS Cheyenne; Carrier Strike Group Nine, the nuclear-powered attack submarines USS Seawolf (SSN-21), USS Greeneville (SSN-772), USS Tucson (SSN-770), and USS Pasadena (SSN-752), as well as land-based P-3 Orion aircraft from patrol squadrons VP-4, VP-9, and VP-47.

In June 2021, Cheyenne shifted her homeport from Pearl Harbor to Groton, CT, joining Submarine Squadron (SUBRON) 12. Cheyenne moved to Naval Submarine Base New London in order to prepare for upcoming refueling and maintenance intended to extend the service life of the submarine by 10 years. Cheyenne arrived in November 2021 at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine to begin a service-life extension program (SLEP) expected to take 30 months and cost $315 million. In December 2021, Submarine Squadron 2 was re-established at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Cheyenne was transferred to this new command. Cheyenne is the first of seven Los Angeles-class subs to undergo this SLEP and was also the first vessel in April 2022 to dock in Portsmouth Naval Shipyard's newly improved Dry Dock 1 using the Super Flood Basin.

In popular culture

 * Cheyenne is the primary subject of the book SSN by Tom Clancy, battling the People's Liberation Army Navy in a fictional war over the Spratly Islands. She is also featured in the video game by Tom Clancy called SSN.
 * In the 2000 novel Quicksilver by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Cheyenne was ordered to fire a Tomahawk TLAM Block Four cruise missile, under manual control of Weapons Officer Lt. Miken Marano, at the River Entrance of the Pentagon.
 * In To the Death by Patrick Robinson, Cheyenne is tasked with shadowing an Iranian Kilo on a path through the Mediterranean Sea.