USS Chicago (SSN-721) is a Los Angeles-class submarine, the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city of Chicago, Illinois. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 13 August 1981 and her keel was laid down on 5 January 1983. She was launched on 13 October 1984 sponsored by Mrs. Vicki Ann Paisley, wife of Melvyn R. Paisley assistant Secretary of the Navy, and commissioned on 27 September 1986, with Commander Robert Avery in command.

Early in 1996, an RQ-1 Predator aerial reconnaissance drone was successfully controlled from Chicago. The drone reached altitudes up to 6000 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. A small camera mounted on the sail of the submarine uses the surface of the ocean as a lens, collecting light from above the surface and refracting it below. High-speed signal processing software assembles an image of what is on the surface. The system's resolution does not allow ship identification, only indicating that something is on the surface. Objects 30 meters (100 feet) tall can be seen at about a distance of 1600 meters (one mile). Sufficient light is available when a camera is shallower than 30 to 60 meters (100 to 200 feet).

Chicago mayor Harold Washington speaking at the commissioning of USS Chicago (SSN-721) in 1986.  On March 15, 2010 the sub's Captain, Commander Jeff Cima, was relieved of command after facing a captain's mast. The mast found that Cima had been drunk and had acted in an "unbecoming" manner during a visit with NROTC midshipmen at Cornell University on March 10, 2010. Cima was temporarily replaced by Captain James Horten.

Visit the real ship vs model.

To learn more visit Wikipedia.