The star of the classic 1990 thriller film, “Hunt for Red October,” has retired, according to a Navy release.
No, not Sean Connery, the Soviet-with-an-inexplicable-Scottish-accent boat commander, but the Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine Dallas.
Dallas was honored during an inactivation ceremony Dec. 5 at Naval Base Kitsap after 36 years of service, and will soon be decommissioned at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington.
While Dallas was prominently featured in both the Tom Clancy novel and the blockbuster movie bearing the book’s name, it was the submarine Houston that represented Dallas during exterior shots.
Scenes depicting submarine interiors, meanwhile, were filmed using an elaborate hydraulic motion set that could mimic the depth changes and turns of a submarine.
“When commissioned on July 18, 1981, Dallas was hailed as the cutting edge of the nation’s defense system,” said Capt. Robert Jezek, representative for Submarine Force U.S. Pacific Fleet Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
“For all these years Dallas carried out missions vital to national security, deployed 14 times, steamed [more than] one million miles, visited [more than] 30 countries, starred in one blockbuster movie, and has been considered home for hundreds of Sailors over the years, some of which are in the audience today.”
Dallas wrapped up its final deployment on Nov. 22, 2016.
Jon Simkins is the executive editor for Military Times and Defense News, and a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War.
