“TWICE AS GOOD” Second Life of the USS Minneapolis-St. Paul SSN-708

MN, UNITED STATES

08.29.2022

Story by Anthony Housey 

Camp Ripley Training Center

August 26, 2022 (CAMP RIPLEY, Minnesota) – “The land of 10,000 lakes” continues to be the moto of the state of Minnesota. Even with all that water, it seems to be an odd place to find a submarine. Especially one resting amongst the mid-west prairie.
The Minnesota Military & Veterans Museum, located just north of Little Falls nearly in the center of Minnesota, recently purchased the remains of the former Los Angeles Class Attack Submarine, USS Minneapolis-St. Paul SSN-708. Thanks to the support and contributions of Anderson Trucking out of St. Cloud, Minnesota the museum received the conning tower, dive planes of tail which were offloaded by technicians of the Minnesota National Guard on Camp Ripley August 29, 2022.
The USS Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a Los Angeles Class, nuclear-powered, fast attack submarine (SSN). Also known as the “688 class (pronounced six-eighty-eight) after the hull number of lead vessel USS Los Angeles (SSN-688), 62 were built the United States Navy from 1972 to 1996. SSN-708 is the first U.S. Navy vessel named for the Twin Cities, but two other ships have been named for Minneapolis. The first Minneapolis (Cruiser No. 13) served from 1894–1921. The second, heavy cruiser Minneapolis (CA-36), served from 1934–1947.
In addition, two ships have been named for St. Paul. The first Saint Paul, a steel passenger liner, retained her mercantile name in United States service, and served as an auxiliary cruiser in 1898 and in the service from 1917–1919. The second, heavy cruiser St. Paul (CA-73), was ordered as the USS Rochester but renamed St. Paul on November 26, 1942 and served from 1945–1971.
After the contract for to build SSN-708 was awarded to Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corp in 1973, The Minneapolis-Saint Paul (SSN-708) was laid down on January 20, 1981 at Groton, Connecticut. It was launched on March 19, 1983 sponsored by Mrs. Penny Durenberger, wife of Senator David F. Durenberger of Minnesota. It was later commissioned on March 10, 1984 under the command of U.S. Navy Cmdr. Ralph Schlichter.
With a complement of 12 Officers and 98 Enlisted men the Minneapolis-Saint Paul (SSN-708) displacement 6,068; length 362'; beam 33'; draft 32'; speed 25 knots; armament 12 Vertical Launch System (VLS) tubes for UGM-109 Tomahawk submarine-launched cruise missiles and UGM-84 Harpoon submarine launched anti-ship missiles, and four torpedo tubes for Mk 48 torpedoes.
The ship and original crew served initially with Submarine Squadron (SubRon) 2 at Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut. Cmdr. Charles J. Beers Jr. relieved Cmdr. Schlichter as the commanding officer on July 26, 1984. Minneapolis-Saint Paul shifted her home port from Groton to Norfolk, Virginia during a brief southerly voyage (December 1–3, 1984), and to SubRon 8 on 15 December. The attack submarine, Cmdr. Beers in command, carried out her maiden deployment during a voyage to European waters that Beers evaluated as of “great importance to the safety and security of the United States” (June 16, – September 15, 1986). Minneapolis-Saint Paul accomplished voyage repairs while she visited Holy Loch, Scotland (August 17–20); Portsmouth, England (August 22–27); and Brest, France (August 28– September 2, 1986).
The vessel took part in Operation Desert Shield in the Gulf War and was the first submarine to carry Tomahawk missiles designed for strikes against Iraq in the Gulf War.
Heavy seas swept four sailors overboard from Minneapolis-Saint Paul while she sailed from Devonport Naval Base, England, following a week-long visit to Plymouth, on December 29, 2006. Other crewmen and British authorities recovered all four crewmen and took them to a nearby hospital, but two of the four died: 45-year-old Senior Chief Petty Officer Thomas K. Higgins of Paducah, Ky., and 30-year-old Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael J. Holtz of Lakewood, Ohio. The other two sailors were treated for minor injuries and discharged from the hospital.
The Minneapolis-Saint Paul (SSN-708) was inactivated during a ceremony at Norfolk on June 22, 2007. The following month the crew sailed from Norfolk to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii to prepare for its decommissioning. The attack submarine was decommissioned and stricken from the Navy List on August 28, 2008. Although sent to the scrap yard to be disassembled, history hasn’t disappeared to time as with other vessels.

In 2022 the Minnesota Military and Veterans Museum, near Little Falls, Minnesota purchased the remaining conning tower, dive plains and tail of the USS MSP and will refurbish them to eventually be placed on display at the new museum site adjacent to Camp Ripley.

The U.S. Navy commissioned its newest littoral combat ship USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS 21) in Duluth, Minnesota, May 21, 2022. Representative Betty McCollum, Minnesota 4th District, was the principal speaker for the commissioning ceremony.

“The strength of America’s national security, and the democratic values we hold dear, are being tested today like they have not been in decades,” said McCollum. “I can think of no two names that represent that strength more than Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Together we are one team – those who built this fine ship, and those who will serve on her. It is the strength and determination of the American people that is the backbone of our national security.”

• Date Taken: 08.29.2022
• Date Posted: 09.02.2022 13:11
• Story ID: 428603
• Location: MN, US