The 361-foot San Francisco was built at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. US Navy

The fast attack submarine San Francisco left Point Loma Tuesday for a six-month deployment to the western Pacific, says the Navy. The boat, commissioned 31 years ago, went to sea with a crew of roughly 140 sailors. The Navy said San Francisco’s mission involves “maritime security, forward presence, sea control, and power projection.”

The San Francisco has been homeported here since 2009. The boat was moved to Point Loma after it underwent a bow replacement that became necessary after the San Francisco slammed into an underwater seamount more than 400 miles southwest of Guam in 2005.

San Francisco is one of six Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered submarines homeported at Point Loma. One of those boats, the Topeka, just arrived at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine for a three year overhaul. Earlier this year, Topeka completed a 35,000 mile mission in the western Pacific.

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The Topeka arrives at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine. US Navy

The Point Loma-based Jefferson City underway recently. US Navy

Source – UT San Diego