USS ''Bremerton'' (SSN-698), a , is the second vessel of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

to be named for

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerto ...

. The contract to build her was awarded to the

Electric Boat An electric boat is a powered watercraft driven by electric motors, which are powered by either on-board battery packs, solar panels or generators. While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail pow ...

Division of

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

Corporation in

Groton, Connecticut Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London is ...

on 24 January 1972 and her keel was laid down on 8 May 1976. She was launched on 22 July 1978 sponsored by Mrs. Helen Jackson (née Hardin), wife of

Henry M. Jackson Henry Martin "Scoop" Jackson (May 31, 1912 – September 1, 1983) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. representative (1941–1953) and U.S. senator (1953–1983) from the state of Washington. A Cold War liberal and a ...

, and commissioned on 28 March 1981.

Ship history

On 11 March 1999, ''Bremerton'' used one torpedo to sink the derelict forebody of the merchant ship ''

New Carissa MV ''New Carissa'' was a freighter that ran aground on a beach near Coos Bay, Oregon, United States during a storm in February 1999 and broke apart. An attempt to tow the bow section of the ship out to sea failed when the tow line broke, ...

'' off the

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

coast. assisted in sinking the ship. After a successful Western Pacific deployment, in September 2003 ''Bremerton'' changed its homeport to

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, Hawaii. ''Bremerton'' spent two months in

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

at Pearl Harbor ending 21 January 2010. Richard OKanes cribbage board being transfered

When was decommissioned on 23 January 2010, ''Bremerton'' became the oldest commissioned submarine in the US fleet. On that day,

Richard O'Kane Richard Hetherington O'Kane (February 2, 1911 – February 16, 1994) was a United States Navy submarine commander in World War II, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for commanding in the Pacific War against Japan to the most successful record ...

cribbage Cribbage, or crib, is a card game, traditionally for two players, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points. It can be adapted for three or four players. Cribbage has several distinctive features: the cribbag ...

board was transferred from ''Los Angeles'' to ''Bremerton'', a tradition that dates back to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. When ''Bremerton'' was inactivated in 2018, the cribbage board was transferred from ''Bremerton'' to USS ''Olympia'' (SSN-717). In January 2011, ''Bremerton'' was adopted by its namesake city, along with a partnership of community members and organizations led by the Bremerton-Olympic Peninsula Council of the US Navy League. In February 2015, ''Bremerton'' visited the City of Bremerton. On 15 June 2016, the 35-year-old submarine completed her 15th deployment. Although originally scheduled for decommissioning in 2017, USS ''Bremerton'''s life was extended for an unspecified period. On 20 July 17, 2017, she became the longest-commissioned U.S. Navy submarine, surpassing at the time. On 6 April 2018, she returned to Pearl Harbor from her final deployment, soon to be decommissioned. On 20 April 2018, USS Bremerton left Pearl Harbor for the last time en route to

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted ...

, to enter the submarine recycling program.

Decommissioning

''Bremerton'' had her decommissioning ceremony 18 May 2021, at the U.S. Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, Washington, though the actual decommissioning did not occur until later that year. Due to COVID restrictions, crewmembers were not allowed to attend the event in person, but SUBGRU 9 streamed the event live globally via

Facebook Live Facebook is a social-network service website launched on February 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. The following is a list of software and technology features that can be found on the Facebook website and mobile app and are available to users of t ...

and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. ''Bremerton'' was officially decommissioned 21 May 2021.

References

This article includes information collected from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

as well as various press releases and news stories. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bremerton (SSN-698) Ships built in Groton, Connecticut Los Angeles-class submarines Cold War submarines of the United States Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy 1978 ships Submarines of the United States