Oldest submarine in US Navy service returns from final deployment

US Navy’s Los Angeles-class submarine USS Bremerton completed her final deployment as an active US Navy ship, returning to her homeport at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on April 6.

The completion of her Western Pacific deployment marks the end of the ship’s active service in the Pacific.

According to the US Navy, Bremerton will soon head to Bremerton, Washington for deactivation.

“The entire crew performed with excellence,” said Master Chief Fire Control Technician (SS) Wade Jacobson, Bremerton’s chief of the boat. “In six months we took the nation’s longest-serving submarine more than 42,000 nautical miles, executing multiple missions in some of the toughest and busiest environments in the world and conducted five foreign port visits.”

During the deployment, 25 sailors earned their submarine warfare qualification, and 19 sailors achieved advanced supervisory qualifications.

While deployed, Bremerton made port calls to Singapore and the Philippines, and some of the crew used the visits to volunteer and interact with host countries.

“The Bremerton is one of the most impressive engineering marvels in human history,” said Jacobson. “It is truly incredible for a warship to be operational at such deep and strenuous depths for nearly 40 years.”

Bremerton is the tenth ship of the Los Angeles class and the oldest commissioned submarine in the US Navy. Her keel was laid by General Dynamics’ Electric Boat Division in Groton, Connecticut in May 1976. She is named in honor of the city of Bremerton, Washington, home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and a city with a long association with both the Navy and the Submarine Force.