After six months in the western Pacific, the Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine Bremerton arrived pier side — one last time — at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii.
Sailors of the tenth Los Angeles-class and oldest commissioned submarine in the U.S. Navy were welcomed by friends and family on April 6 following operations in support of national security that took the boat over 42,000 nautical miles and through five port visits before returning home, a Navy release said.
The Bremerton’s arrival marked the end of her active service. She’ll soon make her way up to Washington state, to the city bearing her name, for deactivation.
“The Bremerton is one of the most impressive engineering marvels in human history,” said Master Chief Wade Jacobson, Bremerton’s chief of the boat “It is truly incredible for a warship to be operational at such deep and strenuous depths for nearly 40 years.”
Bremerton’s keel was laid in Groton, Connecticut, in May 1976 by General Dynamics’ Electric Boat Division, the release said.
Despite its advanced age, Jacobson lauded the craft, as well as the sailors who made its last voyage a successful one.
“Every curveball thrown our way was hit out of the park,” he said. “It took a lot of work to keep our classic submarine in fighting condition but we executed every assignment as requested with zero lost mission days.”
J.D. Simkins is the executive editor of Military Times and Defense News, and a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War.
