Another Los Angeles-class US Navy submarine to be decommissioned

The U.S. Navy started preparations to decommission one more Los Angeles-class submarine, just seven days after bidding farewell to USS City of Corpus Christi at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, May 30.

On June 6, the Pacific Submarine Force and the Pearl Harbor waterfront bid farewell to the Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Houston (SSN 713) in an Aloha celebration at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

Home-ported out of Pearl Harbor since January 2012, Houston departed Pearl Harbor for Bremerton, Washington, where she will be decommissioned on August 26.

Houston will spend the following year going through deactivation and disassembling of components for historical archiving.

During Houston’s 33 years of successful service, the boat has seen more than 15 deployments. Recently, she has served as a training platform for not only her crew, but 46 submariners, across five other boats, and provided command courses for prospective commanding officers.

Sailors, submarine veterans and friends and families of the crew celebrated her 33 years of service to the U.S. submarine force.

Houston was constructed at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, and was commissioned on September 25, 1982.

The submarine is the fourth U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of the city of Houston, Texas. Thea 362-foot long, Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarines displace 6,900 tons and can be fitted with Mk-48 torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles.