BQQ-5 passive sonar, BQS-15 detecting and ranging sonar, WLR-8 fire control radar receiver, WLR-9 acoustic receiver for detection of active search sonar and acoustic homing torpedoes, BRD-7 radio direction finder
Early in 1996, an RQ-1 Predator aerial reconnaissance drone was successfully controlled from Chicago. The drone reached altitudes up to 6,000 meters (20,000 ft) and ranged up to 185 kilometers (100 nmi.) from the submarine, which was operating at periscope depth.
In the summer of 2005, Chicago tested the virtual periscope, a system that would allow submerged submarines to observe the surface above them without having to come to a shallower depth, as is required by traditional periscopes.
After completing a two-year maintenance and upgrade period at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in October 2011, Chicago arrived in April 2012 at her new homeport, assigned to Submarine Squadron 15, based at Joint Region Marianas on the island of Guam.[5]
In keeping with a tradition that dates back to World War II, Richard O'Kane's cribbage board was transferred from Olympia's Wardroom to Chicago's when Olympia was decommissioned on 31 October 2019, making Chicago the oldest fast attack boat in the Pacific Fleet.[6]
On 2 November 2022, Chicago arrived at Pearl Harbor following a seven-month final deployment.[7]
Chicago (Submarine (nuclear-powered) : SSN-721), and Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company. Chicago Launching of SSN721, October 13, 1984. Newport News, Va: Newport News Shipbuilding, Tenneco Co, 1984. OCLC690001032
Chicago (Submarine (nuclear-powered) : SSN-721). Welcome Aboard, USS Chicago SSN 721. United States: s.n, 1993. OCLC689994981
Genat, Robin and Genat, Robert. Modern U.S. Naval Submarines. Osceola, WI: MBI Publishing Company, 1997. ISBN0-7603-0276-6OCLC36713050
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.