#Hunley submarine crew graves charleston free

Once unheard of in submarine tending, these jobs were only a few of many carried out by Hunley's crew. Hunley was subsequently sold to the Southern Scrap Materials Company on 5 January 2007 for scrapping.Īmong jobs carried out by Hunley was welding on SSBN pressure hulls or reactor plant fluid systems. Hunley was decommissioned on 30 September 1994 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on and turned over to the Maritime Commission on. In 1980, Hunley was relieved by Proteus and returned to Charleston via the Panama Canal. In transit to Guam, Hunley went around South America rather than through the Panama Canal. In 1978, Hunley went to Boston Naval Shipyard for hull cleaning and hull valve repairs in preparation for relieving Proteus once again in Guam. After completion Hunley returned to Charleston, South Carolina, to again service the Atlantic Fleet. In 1973 Hunley returned to Bremerton Shipyard for conversion overhaul. It was while Hunley was in Guam that the Machinery Repair Division received the Meritorious Unit Commendation, having expended 4500 hours of repair labor on various units of the U.S. In 1971 Hunley relieved Proteus in Guam again in order for Proteus to go to shipyard. Hunley put out for Guam on the day after Christmas, 1967, to relieve Proteus at Polaris Point from January to June 1968 while Proteus underwent a self-overhaul, with Hunley returning to Charleston in July 1968. Hunley returned to the United States late in 1966 and in 1967 operated out of Charleston, South Carolina. Hunley's motto was 'We Serve to Preserve Peace'. This represented some 200 months of Polaris on station or 16 1⁄ 2 years of submerged strategic deterrent since Hunley's arrival in Holy Loch 9 January 1963. This signified that one hundred SSBN submarines had gone out on time from Hunley and not one of them had to make an early return from patrol.

Edison came alongside to commence the 100th refit of a nuclear ballistic submarine (SSBN) by the Hunley. USS Hunley servicing SSBNs at Holy Loch, Scotland (UK), 1981.Ī Polaris milestone was reached in December 1965 when USS Thomas A. She resumed her duties at Holy Loch on 15 June 1964. This duty continued until 12 April 1964 when Hunley sailed for conversion that provided capability of handling the new A3 Polaris Missile. Almost immediately she began taking the load off USS Proteus, whom she officially relieved 15 March 1963 as tender to Submarine Squadron 14 at Holy Loch. She departed from the Norfolk Operating Base 29 December 1962 for Holy Loch, Scotland, arriving 9 January 1963. After which the Hunley paid a 3-day visit to New York City to host the Naval Reserve Officers Seminar 'New Ships for the Modern Navy'. She visited several Gulf and Atlantic ports and returned to Norfolk 28 September for post-shakedown alterations until 8 December 1962. Syverson in command, Hunley sailed 25 July 1962 for shakedown training off Cuba until 6 September 1962. Hunley.Ĭareer A picture of the USS Hunley from 1962 The ship was named in honor of Horace Lawson Hunley, the designer of the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel in naval history, the Confederate submarine H. Palmer Gaillard, wife of the Mayor of Charleston, South Carolina. The hull was laid down in by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia and sponsored by Mrs. She had complete facilities for servicing the complex Polaris Weapons Systems and for accomplishing any submarine repair other than a major shipyard overhaul. Navy's nuclear-powered Ballistic Missile Submarine Fleet. Hunley had the distinction of being the first ship designed and built from the keel up to service and maintain the U.S.

#Hunley submarine crew graves charleston free

In September 2008, during Hurricane Gustav, the decommissioned ship broke free of its moorings in the New Orleans Inner Harbor, but caused little or no damage while adrift. The Hunley was decommissioned from the regular navy, in 1995 transferred to the US Maritime Commission, and in 2007 sold as scrap to a metal recycling company in Louisiana. The ship achieved several records and milestones in its service. The Hunley was designed to tend most of the long-term requirements of the Polaris Class of submarines. USS Hunley (AS-31) was a submarine tender of the United States Navy launched on 28 September 1961 and commissioned 16 June 1962. Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company