USS Cheyenne arrives at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for $315 million in work

The USS Cheyenne arrives at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021.
The USS Cheyenne arrives at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021.

KITTERY, Maine — The final submarine in the Navy’s Los Angeles class arrived at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Tuesday for scheduled system upgrades and maintenance work.

With over 140 crew members aboard, the USS Cheyenne docked at the shipyard. Its home base is in Groton, Connecticut, where it traveled from.

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard announced the Cheyenne is the third naval ship to be named after the Wyoming city, as well as the first of its class to partake in the Navy’s service-life extension program.

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard spokesperson Gary Hildreth said the maintenance of the submarine is expected to last 30 months at a cost of approximately $315 million.

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At 360 feet long and with a dead weight of 927 tons, the USS Cheyenne is capable of supporting military missions that include “anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike warfare, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance,” according to the shipyard's statement.

The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Cheyenne is seen in the Rim of the Pacific in July 2016.
The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Cheyenne is seen in the Rim of the Pacific in July 2016.

The Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company was awarded the contract to build the submarine in the fall of 1989, leading to its construction beginning July 6, 1992. The USS Cheyenne was commissioned Sept. 13, 1996.

For nearly 25 years, the submarine called Pearl Harbor, Hawaii its home port. The move to Groton occurred earlier this year on June 28.

On Jan. 22 of this year, Commander Samuel Bell took over leadership of the submarine. Portsmouth is the submarine’s host community during its stay at the local yard.

“Most recently, from October 2019 to December 2020, Cheyenne completed two Western Pacific deployments in support of the Global War on Terror, in addition to numerous fleet exercises,” the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard stated.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: USS Cheyenne arrives at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire