Los Angeles Class Submarine

The USS Los Angeles was the lead ship in a new class of "Hunter-Killer" nuclear powered submarines for the United States Navy. She was laid down in 1972 and launched two years later. This 360 foot submarine was bigger, faster and quieter than previous American submarines, the size being necessary to house the huge sonar array and other sophisticated tracking devices. Armed with four torpedo tubes that can also launch Tomahawk Cruise missiles, these were formidable submarines. Given the number SSN-688, the Los Angeles was the first of 62 such submarins divided in to three groups, the first, SSN-688 to 718 are Flight I and identical to the Los Angeles. The second group known as Flight II, from SSN-719 USS Providence, are fitted with 12 Vertical Launch System (VLS) tubes mounted in the bows for launching Cruise Missiles. This allows the torpedo tubes to be used only for torpedos. The final group from SSN-751 USS San Juan, have their dive planes moved to the bows and have upgraded systems and quieter opperation and are known as Improved Flight II.