USS Groton (SSN-694) Submarine Model. Dive with the USS Groton (SSN-694) Submarine again in this handcrafted 20-inch submarine. Each piece is carved from wood and handpainted to provide a piece you’ll love. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 31 January 1971 and her keel was laid down on 3 August 1973. She was launched on 9 October 1976 sponsored by Mrs. Anne Francis Richardson (née Hazard), wife of Secretary of Commerce Elliot L. Richardson, and commissioned on 8 July 1978, with Commander R. William Vogel, III in command and Master Chief Petty Officer Joseph Pow as Chief of the Boat. Groton departed on her first overseas deployment in March 1980 to the Indian Ocean. The submarine made her way back to the homeport of Groton, Connecticut by way of the Panama Canal. Groton completed the Around-the-World Cruise in October 1980. Groton was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 7 November 1997.