Captain Steven Lawrence

Commodore

Captain Steven Lawrence is a native of Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. He was commissioned in May 2001 upon graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the United States Naval Academy.

From 2018 to 2021, he commanded USS OKLAHOMA CITY (SSN-723), a forward-deployed attack submarine based in Guam. Under his leadership, the ship completed three Western Pacific deployments and earned two Battle Efficiency Awards. He was selected as the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s recipient of the 2021 Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Award for Inspirational Leadership while in command.

Captain Lawrence has also served aboard USS TENNESSEE (SSBN-734G) as a Division Officer, USS JIMMY CARTER (SSN-23) as Engineer Officer, and USS HELENA (SSN-725) as Executive Officer. Across these assignments, he completed six overseas deployments and five strategic deterrent patrols.

His shore assignments include serving on the staff of the Vice Chief of Naval Operations as an Operations Officer in the Defense Liaison Division; as a Junior Board Member on the Fleet Forces Command Nuclear Propulsion Examination Board; and in multiple roles on the staff of Commander, Submarine Force Atlantic (COMSUBLANT). At COMSUBLANT, he served as the Force Nuclear Power Officer, Senior Member of the Type Commander’s Combat Readiness Evaluation Team, and Director for Maintenance and Material Readiness (N4). Most recently, Captain Lawrence served as the Branch Head for Nuclear Strategy and Policy at NATO’s Headquarters Supreme Allied Commander Transformation from 2023 to 2025. He assumed command as Commander, Undersea Surveillance in August 2025.