BREMERTON, Wash. — The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Albuquerque (SSN 706) arrived at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility to commence the inactivation and decommissioning process, Oct. 28.
An inactivation ceremony was held in San Diego to honor the boat's 32 years of service, Aug. 28. During the ship's life, Albuquerque deployed 19 times, visited more than 20 countries, and steamed more than 500,000 miles.
"The ship's success is directly attributable to a cohesive crew that, through the years, has maintained a 'can-do' attitude," said Cmdr. Don Tenney, Albuquerque's commanding officer. "I am exceptionally proud of the crew who just completed a six month WESTPAC deployment and immediately turned to the business of moving the ship and their families to Bremerton, and started preparing the ship for decommissioning."
Albuquerque completed its final six-month deployment, Aug. 21, which was followed by a change of command where Tenney relieved Cmdr. Trent Hesslink.
"USS Albuquerque has a rich history that includes highly successful missions in both war and peace," Tenney added. "She is known as the 'Sure Shooter' of the fleet because of her 100% success rate on Tomahawk missions during the Kosovo conflict in 1999."
During the inactivation process, the submarine will be de-fueled, with the hull retained in safe storage until decommissioning. Albuquerque is scheduled to decommission in 2016.
"We view the decommissioning as our next mission, and are determined to execute it with the precision and thoroughness that are the hallmarks of the submarine force," the commander said. "We understand that our success here is critical, so we can make our highly-trained Sailors available to newer ships in the fleet."
Albuquerque was second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Albuquerque, N.M. The keel was laid by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics in Groton, Conn., December 27, 1979. The boat was launched March 13, 1982, and commissioned May 21, 1983.
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