USS Providence, SSN-719 USS Providence (SSN-719), one of 62! Los Angeles class `hunter killer` nuclear attack submarines. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 16 April 1979. She was launched on 4 August 1984, and commissioned on 27 July 1985, with Captain E. Morrow in command. Providence is the first Los Angeles class submarine to be equipped with the Tomahawk missile Vertical Launch System (VLS). While others used test boxes and programs, Providence was the first submarine to launch a Tomahawk cruise missile from the VLS system using its combat system CCS MK1. The submarine is currently, February 2010, active and assigned to Commander Submarine Squadron 2 at US Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, CT. In fiction Providence appears in the Tom Clancy novel Red Storm Rising, launching cruise missiles against military airfields inside the Soviet Union before being attacked by a Grisha-class frigate which causes extensive damage to her sail. She attempts to flee while under escort from her sisters Boston and Chicago but the damage to her sail causes her to sound like "a junk wagon going down a gravel road". Before reaching safety she is attacked and ultimately sunk (along with Boston) by an Alfa class submarine. Back to History Index Image Country Year Description Malawi 2010 USS Providence SSN-719 (Los Angeles class, nuclear attack submarine, 1985)