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Career
Awarded:	28 November 1983
Laid down:	13 May 1986
Launched:	23 January 1988
Commissioned:	21 October 1989
Status:	Active in service as of 2007
Homeport:	San Diego, California
General characteristics
Displacement:	5726 tons light, 6131 tons full, 405 tons dead
Length:	110.3 m (362 ft)
Beam:	10 m (33 ft)
Draft:	9.4 m (31 ft)
Depth:	400 m (1200 ft)
Propulsion:	one S6G reactor
Complement:	12 officers, 98 men
Armament:	4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes, 12 vertical launch Tomahawk missiles
Motto:	Defender of the Heartland

USS Topeka (SSN-754), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Topeka, Kansas. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 28 November 1983 and her keel was laid down on 13 May 1986. She was launched on 23 January 1988 sponsored by Elizabeth Dole and commissioned on 21 October 1989, with Commander Timothy Reichert in command^[1].

• CDR Timothy Reichert
• CDR Wilbur O. Cooke
• CDR Ed "Fast Eddie" Jablonski
• CDR Dennis Haines ( 1994 - 1996)
• CDR Anthony Cortese ( 1996 - 1998)
• CDR Mark D Patton (1998 - 2000)
• CDR John J. Litherland (2000-2003)
• CDR Richard A. Correll (2003-2005)
• CDR Dixon K. Hicks (2005-2007)
• CDR Daryl Caudle (interim)(2007)
• CDR Marc A. Stern (2007-Present)

While on deployment in 1992 the crew of the USS Topeka nearly ran out of food. During the final days of the deployment prior to entry to Bahrain the crew was rationed to one piece of lunch meat, chow mein noodles, & unleavened bread.^{[citation needed]}

During New Years Eve 2000 the USS Topeka straddled the international dateline, thus was famously "in two millenniums at once".^[2]

In October 2002, after completing a Modernization Period in Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Topeka shifted homeport to San Diego, California, from Pearl Harbor.

COMSUBRON 11 Battle "E" - 1993 In August 2004, Topeka returned to San Diego after six months of operations with the Seventh Fleet, including three missions significant to national security that earned the boat the Navy Expeditionary Medal and Navy Unit Commendation Medal. The ship and crew earned the Battle Efficiency "E" Award for 2004 and again in 2005.

• Topeka is featured in the 1992 mini series Submarines: Sharks of Steel.

• In the opening episode of the science fiction television series Surface, Topeka was found adrift with her crew having mysteriously disappeared.
• The boat has also been featured in the naval sim Dangerous Waters as well as others in its class along with the Seawolf class SSN
• Topeka was also featured in the 17 May 2006 episode of the FOX Television series '24' as the Natalia K524.

• See USS Topeka for other ships of the same name.

This article includes information collected from the public domain sources Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships and Naval Vessel Register.

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