USS Texas SSN-775 USS Texas (SSN-775) is a Virginia class submarine; the contract to build her was awarded to the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard (then called Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.) in Newport News, Virginia on 30 September 1998. She was launched into the James River on 9 April 2005. Under the command of Captain John Litherland, Texas arrived at Galveston Bay and was commissioned in Galveston, Texas, and joined the U.S. Atlantic Fleet on 9 September 2006. The ship, under the command of Commander Robert Roncska, departed New London Naval Submarine Base at Groton for Pearl Harbor on September 16, 2009. On its way to Pearl Harbor, the sub traveled to the Arctic Ocean and surfaced near the North Pole`s ice pack. Due to the thickness of the ice on the West Coast, the sub turned around and completed its westbound transit via the Panama Canal. Back to History Index Image Country Year Description Malawi 2010 USS Texas SSN-775 (US Fast Attack Submarine, SSN, Virginia class, 2006)