Los Angeles class attack submarine | Trackpads Warship Archive

NORFOLK (Aug. 25, 2011) A Los Angeles-class attack submarine departs Naval Station Norfolk ahead of Hurricane Irene. Vice Adm. Daniel Holloway, commander of U.S. 2nd Fleet, ordered all ships in the Hampton Roads area to set Sortie Condition Alpha. Ships in the area are departing early Thursday morning, Aug. 25.This image was released by the United States Navy with the ID 110825-N-NK458-015 (next) . This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing . العربية ∙ বাংলা ∙ Bahasa Indonesia ∙ Bahaso Jambi ∙ Deutsch ∙ Deutsch (Sie-Form) ∙ English ∙ español ∙ euskara ∙ فارسی ∙ français ∙ italiano ∙ 日本語 ∙ 한국어 ∙ македонски ∙ മലയാളം ∙ Plattdüütsch ∙ Nederlands ∙ polski ∙ پښتو ∙ português ∙ русский ∙ slovenščina ∙ svenska ∙ Türkçe ∙ українська ∙ 简体中文 ∙ 繁體中文 ∙ +/− · Public domainImage source

TypeNuclear Powered Attack Submarine

CountryUnited States

NavyUnited States Navy

EraCold War, late Cold War, post-Cold War, and twenty-first century

Ships completed62

Ships planned62

Construction began1972

Construction ended1996

Overview and historical setting

Sixty-two Los Angeles-class attack submarines form the complete documented production roster.

The class belongs to the history of submarines and served during Cold War, late Cold War, post-Cold War, and twenty-first century. Submarine design is shaped by the tension between underwater endurance, speed, depth, sensors, weapons, habitability, and the need to remain difficult to detect. Changes in propulsion and mission systems can transform the operational meaning of a class even when the basic hull family remains recognizable. For Los Angeles class attack submarine, the documented mission set included attack-submarine operations, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and strike operations.

Development and design

The long production run introduced major improvements including later vertical-launch and improved-quieting configurations, so the class configuration is intentionally only a representative anchor. The program chronology records construction beginning in 1972 and the documented construction period ending in 1996. Program totals list 62 planned, 62 ordered, 62 laid down, 62 completed, and 0 cancelled. These dates and totals distinguish the design program from the number of ships that were actually completed and entered service.

The design evidence for Los Angeles class attack submarine identifies nuclear propulsion, towed array sonar, and cruise missile capability and attack-submarine operations, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and strike operations. These features connect the class's technical arrangement to the work it was expected to perform for United States Navy. Later refits, revised sensors, new weapons, and changes in doctrine could alter the practical capabilities of individual members without changing their class identity.

Technical character

The Los Angeles class representative attack-submarine baseline configuration, dated from 1976, is presented as the as-completed configuration. The figures describe one documented state and may not apply unchanged throughout the subject's service life.

Technical data for Los Angeles class attack submarine is most useful when tied to a date and mission. Displacement changed with fuel, ammunition, electronics, weapons, and later modifications; speed and range depended on operating conditions; and sensors or armament could vary substantially between members and periods of service.

Ships of the class

The documented roster contains 62 members. These include USS Los Angeles (SSN-688), USS Baton Rouge (SSN-689), USS Philadelphia (SSN-690), USS Memphis (SSN-691), USS Omaha (SSN-692), USS Cincinnati (SSN-693), USS Groton (SSN-694), USS Birmingham (SSN-695), USS New York City (SSN-696), and USS Indianapolis (SSN-697), with 52 additional documented members. The available sources support this as the complete class roster.

Individual ship histories are needed to show how a common design diverged through construction differences, refits, damage, transfers, new assignments, and final disposition. For a ship-level view of the class in service, see USS Los Angeles, whose profile follows the evidence available for one member of Los Angeles class attack submarine.

Service history

The class comprised sixty-two submarines, whose commissioning, modernization, and decommissioning histories varied by ship. The shared design created a common starting point, while individual ships could accumulate different deployments, combat damage, modernization work, transfers, and end states.

Historical significance

The class is the dominant U.S. Nuclear-attack-submarine bridge between Cold War Sturgeon boats and the Seawolf/Virginia generations. Its significance is best assessed through the relationship between mission, technical choices, production scale, and the service experience of its members.

For Los Angeles class attack submarine, the most useful points of comparison are the requirement for attack-submarine operations, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and strike operations, the use of nuclear propulsion, towed array sonar, and cruise missile capability, and a program recorded as 62 planned, 62 ordered, 62 laid down, 62 completed, and 0 cancelled. Those factors help explain what the class offered United States Navy, how it differed from predecessors or contemporaries, and why ships built to the same design could still have different careers.

Understanding Los Angeles class attack submarine across time requires separating the design as approved, the configuration in which individual ships entered service, and later changes made after operational experience. For United States Navy, that distinction matters because a refit could alter weapons, sensors, aviation facilities, command arrangements, or mission without creating a new class. The class history defines the common baseline; dated ship histories show how each member changed within it.

Ships in this class

Showing 62 recorded class members.

Sources and further reading

Attack Submarines - SSN ↗United States Navy · accessed 2026-09-21
Los Angeles-class submarine ↗Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-21
Owners & Operators Manual 2025 ↗United States Navy · accessed 2026-09-21

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