USS San Francisco (SSN-711) is a nuclear submarine, the third ship or boat of the United States Navy to be named for San Francisco, California. History Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia was awarded the contract to build USS San Francisco on 1 August 1975, and her keel was laid down on 26 May 1977. She was launched on 27 October 1979, sponsored by Mrs. Robert Y. Kaufman, and commissioned on 24 April 1981 with Commander J. Allen Marshall in command. San Francisco joined Submarine Force US Pacific Fleet following an initial shakedown cruise, and moved to her homeport at Pearl Harbor. She completed deployments in 1982, 1983, 1985, and 1986 with the U.S. Seventh Fleet and various independent operations in the Pacific in 1986, earning the Battle Efficiency "E" for Submarine Squadron Seven in 1985. She earned a Navy Unit Commendation and a second Battle Efficiency "E" for Submarine Squadron Seven, and her crew was awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal for independent operations in 1988. San Francisco entered a Depot Modernization Period at Pearl Harbor from 1989 to 1990 and then went on to conduct deployments to the Western Pacific in 1992 and 1994. The submarine was awarded the 1994 Commander Submarine Squadron Seven "T" for excellence in tactical operations and a Meritorious Unit Commendation for the 1994 Western Pacific deployment. On 18 December 2002, San Francisco arrived at her new homeport at Apra Harbor, Guam. The submarine was homeported at Naval Base Point Loma, San Diego, California in 2009. Collision with seamount On 8 January 2005 at 02:43 GMT, San Francisco collided with an undersea mountain about southeast of Guam while operating at flank (maximum) speed at a depth of . Official US Navy reporting subsequent to the grounding cited the location as "in the vicinity of the Caroline Islands". The position of the impact was estimated by a newspaper account as , between Pikelot and Lamotrek Atolls. The collision was so serious that the vessel was almost lost; accounts detail a desperate struggle for positive buoyancy to surface after the forward ballast tanks were ruptured. Ninety-eight crewmen were injured, and Machinist's Mate Second Class Joseph Allen Ashley, 24, of Akron, Ohio, died from head injuries on 9 January. Other injuries to the crew included broken bones, spinal injury, and lacerations. San Franciscos forward ballast tanks and her sonar dome were severely damaged,