US Navy’s Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Jacksonville (SSN 699) has reached her new homeport of Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton where she is to be decommissioned and inactivated.
The submarine arrived in Bremerton on December 11, completing her homeport change from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Jacksonville has been homeported in Hawaii since 2009.
USS Jacksonville completed her most recent deployment August 10, 2017. The boat and crew spent 208 days at sea, steamed more than 48,000 nautical miles, and conducted maritime security operations and joint exercises with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force and Indian navies. The crew also conducted various port calls to Bahrain, Guam, Oman, and Singapore.
“I want to welcome USS Jacksonville to the beautiful Pacific Northwest,” said Capt. Michael Lewis, commander, Submarine Squadron 19. “We look forward to working with her over the next several months as they prepare to decommission.”
The submarine is scheduled to be retired from the fleet in 2018.
During the inactivation process, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility will de-fuel the submarine, with the hull retained in safe storage until decommissioning.
Commissioned May 16, 1981, Jacksonville is named after the largest and most populous city in Florida, and is the first ship to bear the name.