USS Houston

Four United States Navy ships have borne the name Houston, after the city of Houston, Texas.

• The first Houston (AK-1) was originally the German freighter Liebenfels, scuttled in 1917, but then raised by the Navy and used as a transport during World War I.

• The second Houston (CA-30) was a heavy cruiser commissioned in 1930 and sunk at the Battle of the Java Sea in early 1942.

• The third Houston (CL-81) was a light cruiser, commissioned in 1943, crippled in October 1944, but saved after heroic efforts.

• The fourth Houston (SSN-713) is a Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine commissioned in 1982 and still on active service in 2003.