USS Topeka SSN-754

Learn about ships that have borne the USS Topeka name:

The first TOPEKA was originally built in 1881 in Germany for Portugal as the Diogenes, but Portugal never took over the ship. She went to Thames Iron Works in England where the US Navy bought her on April 2, 1898 and commissioned her the same day as USS TOPEKA (PG 35) (Patrol Gunboat). She took part in the blockade of Cuba during the Spanish-American War and was decommissioned and recommissioned four times between 1898 and 1923 before her final decommissioning in 1929. She was stricken from the Navy list on January 2, 1930.


FORBES FIELD, TOPEKA, KANSAS
USS Topeka SSN-754



Learn about ships that have borne the USS Topeka name: The first TOPEKA was originally built in 1881 in Germany for Portugal as the Diogenes, but Portugal never took over the ship. She went to Thames Iron Works in England where the US Navy bought her on April 2, 1898 and commissioned her the same day as USS TOPEKA (PG 35) (Patrol Gunboat). She took part in the blockade of Cuba during the Spanish-American War and was decommissioned and recommissioned four times between 1898 and 1923 before her final decommissioning in 1929. She was stricken from the Navy list on January 2, 1930.
The second TOPEKA was built by Bethlehem Steel Company of Quincy, MA. It was placed in commission as a light cruiser (CL 67) on December 23, 1944. The TOPEKA joined Admiral William "Bull" Halsey's Third Fleet in the Pacific on June 1, 1945. She operated with the fleet against the home islands of Japan through the end of World War II. TOPEKA returned to the US in November 1945. She remained in active service until June 18, 1949, when she was placed out of commission in reserve at San Francisco, CA.
	The third USS TOPEKA was born from the second. USS TOPEKA (CL 67) was towed from California to New York Naval Shipyard in 1957 for conversion to a guided missile light cruiser. The conversion was completed in 1960, and on March 26, 1960, USS TOPEKA (CLG 8) was commissioned at Brooklyn Naval Shipyard. Her initial homeport was Long Beach, CA from where she deployed to the Western Pacific (WESTPAC) four times. Her fourth WESTPAC included operations in the South China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. She served as flagship for Cruiser Destroyer Group, Seventh Fleet on that deployment and fired her guns against an enemy for the first time in 21 years, over 3,000 rounds of 5-inch and 6-inch ammunition.
USS TOPEKA (CLG 8) transferred to the Mayport, FL in 1968. After a Mediterranean cruise with the Sixth Fleet, TOPEKA was decommissioned in Boston, MA on June 5, 1969. Her name was struck from the Navy list on December 1, 1973, and she was sold for scrap on March 20, 1975. More about USS Topeka
		The current USS TOPEKA (SSN 754) is counted as the third ship named for the capitol city. It was launched January 23, 1988 and commissioned October 21, 1989 as a fast attack nuclear submarine, the 43rd of the USS LOS ANGELES Class. TOPEKA was initially homeported in Honolulu, HI and moved to San Diego, CA, its current homeport, in November 2002 *Link to USS Topeka SSN754*