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USS Bremerton (SSN 698)

USS BREMERTON was the 11^th LOS ANGELES class nuclear powered attack submarine and the 6th boat in this class built by Electric Boat in Groton, CT.

On March 11, 1999, USS DAVID R. RAY (DD 971), along with USS BREMERTON, was tasked by the Navy with sinking the commercial tanker NEW CARISSA at the request of a unified command made up of local, state and federal officials concerned about the environment. The NEW CARISSA had been spilling oil since it shipwrecked near Coos Bay, OR, on February 4. It was then towed for three days to the open ocean for sinking. This effort was the unified command's second attempt to dispose of the 6,000-ton hulk, which had broken free from another tow a week earlier, only to return ashore along the central Oregon coast. An estimated 130,000 gallons of thick crude oil remained in the ship's fuel tanks after Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11, from Whidbey Island, WA, torched more than half of the hazardous material February 10. DAVID R. RAY gunners prepared point-detonating 5-inch, 54-caliber projectiles for firing into NEW CARISSA to facilitate flooding. The destroyer's gunners then pumped 69 rounds into NEW CARISSA's bellowing hull. As intended, the resulting punctures allowed trapped air to ventilate. Strategically placed shots along the waterline caused the desired stern-first submersion that achieved the intended outcome. BREMERTON was then called upon to fire one Mk-48 advanced capability torpedo, sinking NEW CARISSA.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS BREMERTON. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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USS BREMERTON History:

USS BREMERTON was the eleventh LOS ANGELES-class nuclear-powered attack submarine and the second U.S. Navy ship named for the city of Bremerton, Washington. The contract for her construction was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics at Groton, Connecticut, on January 24, 1972. Her keel was laid there on May 8, 1976. She was launched on July 22, 1978, sponsored by Helen Jackson, wife of senator Henry M. Jackson, and commissioned at Groton on March 28, 1981, with Captain Thomas H. Anderson as her first commanding officer. Her motto was "Patriae Defensor Ad Hoc Adsum" - "Standing ready to defend our country".

Immediately after commissioning in spring 1981, USS BREMERTON began shakedown and work-up operations along the U.S. east coast. From April 3-11, 1981, she was underway for a port visit to Port Canaveral, Florida, followed by another short underway period from April 30. On May 4, she entered Port Everglades, Florida, for a six-day visit before proceeding to the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center range off Andros Island in the Bahamas for weapons certification and performance trials, and then sound trials in Exuma Sound. She returned to Naval Submarine Base New London at Groton on June 1, conducted independent steaming exercises and an Operational Reactor Safeguards Examination from June 2-11, and carried out her pre-overseas movement certification from June 22-26.

On July 11, 1981, she departed Groton for the last time, bound for the Pacific via the Cape of Good Hope, which she rounded on July 25. After crossing the Indian Ocean, she entered Diego Garcia on September 27, mooring outboard the destroyer tender USS DIXIE (AD 14) for a two-day visit, and then proceeded to HMAS Stirling at Garden Island near Perth, Australia, arriving October 5 for a week-long port visit. On October 28, 1981, she arrived at her designated homeport of Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, at the end of a three-and-a-half-month Indian Ocean deployment, and in December 1981 spent December 11-18 underway for local operations from Pearl Harbor.

On January 4, 1982, USS BREMERTON entered Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a seven-month post-shakedown availability, completing the major yard work associated with her first period of operations. On May 29, 1982, Captain D. S. Wright relieved Captain Anderson as commanding officer. After emerging from the yard, BREMERTON departed Pearl Harbor on September 20 for familiarization visits along the U.S. west coast. She reached Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on October 7 for a five-day visit to her namesake region, then continued to Naval Air Station Alameda for a four-day visit to the San Francisco area starting October 15, and made a further stop in San Diego from October 22-25 before returning to Pearl Harbor on November 7, 1982.

BREMERTON's first western Pacific deployment followed soon afterward. On March 24, 1983, she departed Pearl Harbor for a six-month deployment into the western Pacific at the height of the late Cold War, when U.S. attack submarines focused on antisubmarine warfare against Soviet forces and support to Seventh Fleet battle groups. She arrived at Chinhae Naval Base in the Republic of Korea on April 24 for a four-day visit, then shifted south to Subic Bay in the Philippines from May 22-29. On June 3 she entered Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore for a four-day port call. After a brief stop again in Subic Bay on June 12 she participated in exercise MULTIPLEX and then returned to Subic for upkeep from June 21-27. On July 3 the submarine pulled into Apra Harbor, Guam, for three weeks of upkeep before returning to Pearl Harbor on October 1, 1983, completing her maiden western Pacific deployment.

From January 7 to February 6, 1984, USS BREMERTON was again at sea for special operations in the Pacific, followed by independent steaming exercises from February 13-22 and prospective commanding officer operations on February 27. She anchored off Lahaina, Maui, from March 3-5 and conducted sea trials from March 26-29, then further independent steaming exercises from April 16-19 and another pre-overseas movement certification from April 23-27.

On May 5, 1984, she departed Pearl Harbor for another western Pacific deployment. During this cruise she entered Subic Bay on July 10 for a two-week upkeep period, then moored outboard the oiler USNS PASSUMPSIC (T-AO 107) in Hong Kong beginning July 27 for four days. She returned to Pearl Harbor on August 11, 1984. Later that year, she operated off the U.S. west coast, spending October 1-November 1 underway to participate in San Francisco's Fleet Week, including visits to Naval Submarine Base Point Loma from October 7-8 and NAS Alameda from October 14-18.

On January 19, 1985, Commander Alan R. Beam relieved Captain Wright as commanding officer. In February, BREMERTON again anchored off Lahaina, Maui, from February 22-25, combining a three-day port visit with a dependents' cruise back to Pearl Harbor. On April 15, 1985, she entered dry dock at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a four-month drydocking selected restricted availability, undocking on July 9. She then conducted sea trials from August 3-9, training and tactical readiness workups from August 13-23, and a formal Tactical Readiness Evaluation from August 28-30. In September, she was underway again from September 4-30 for eastern Pacific operations, and in December she carried out antisubmarine warfare exercises from December 2-6 and 9-13, followed by another pre-overseas movement certification from December 16-20.

BREMERTON departed Pearl Harbor on December 27, 1985, for a further western Pacific deployment, again operating in the context of Cold War forward presence and antisubmarine surveillance in the western Pacific. She conducted upkeep in Yokosuka, Japan, from January 5-12, 1986, then visited Chinhae from January 18-22. She reached Subic Bay on January 27 for a five-day port call and again spent February 17-23 there after Philippine Sea operations and a March 1-3 visit to Sasebo, Japan. She carried out operations in the Philippine Sea from March 7-13, made a brief stop at Yokosuka on March 16, then returned to Chinhae from April 14-18 and Yokosuka from May 16-17. From May 23, she moored outboard the submarine tender USS PROTEUS (AS 19) in Apra Harbor, Guam, for a 13-day fleet maintenance availability. She completed the five-and-a-half-month deployment when she returned to Pearl Harbor on June 13, 1986.

Later that summer, she departed again on August 27 for eastern Pacific operations in support of Chief of Naval Operations projects, visiting Nanoose test range off British Columbia via a September 3-5 port call at Nannose and a September 7-8 stop at Bangor, Washington. She then visited her namesake city at Bremerton from October 4 for three days following support to the Canadian MARCOT 86 fleet exercise from September 24-October 2, made a mid-October visit to NAS Alameda from October 15-19, and returned to Pearl Harbor on October 24, 1986. She finished the year with additional Tactical Readiness Evaluation workups from December 8-12.

From February 11 to March 13, 1987, USS BREMERTON was again deployed for western Pacific operations, including port visits to Subic Bay from February 17-18 and February 23-March 1, and a brief stop at Johnston Atoll on March 10 to embark personnel for an Operational Reactor Safeguards Examination. From March 24-27 she conducted VIP operations. After returning to Pearl Harbor, she entered dry dock from May 19 to June 24 for resin discharge work. In July, she was again at sea for antisubmarine warfare operations with the attack submarine USS SAN FRANCISCO (SSN 711) from July 13-23, then made a port visit to Lahaina, Maui, from August 8-10. From September 23 to November 14, 1987, she conducted another period of western Pacific operations, for which detailed port visits are not publicly recorded, but which formed part of continuing Seventh Fleet and allied antisubmarine and surveillance activities in the region.

On February 18, 1988, Commander John C. McMacken relieved Commander Beam as commanding officer of USS BREMERTON. In March 1988, the submarine made another dependents' cruise to Lahaina from March 11-14 before entering Dry Dock 2 at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on June 7 for a planned three-year regular overhaul. This extended refit, typical for the LOS ANGELES-class during the late Cold War and early post-Cold War years, upgraded systems and extended the submarine's operating life. On March 2, 1990, Commander Louis A. Hughes relieved Commander McMacken, and on April 6 BREMERTON left dry dock for a pier-side completion of her overhaul. The regular overhaul, which ultimately lasted about forty-five months, was completed in March 1992. In May 1992, she conducted post-refit acoustic trials off Ketchikan, Alaska, using the Southeast Alaska Acoustic Measurement Facility in Behm Canal to verify her quieting performance, then returned to Pearl Harbor for a resin discharge in October. In November 1992, she proceeded to Naval Submarine Base Point Loma in San Diego to replace an imploded sonar dome. On August 14, 1992, during this post-overhaul period, Commander John M. Crochet relieved Commander Hughes as BREMERTON's fifth commanding officer.

With her major overhaul complete, USS BREMERTON returned to regular deployment cycles. On May 3, 1993, she departed Pearl Harbor for a scheduled western Pacific deployment as part of the battle group centered on the aircraft carrier USS INDEPENDENCE (CV 62), supporting U.S. and allied presence and training operations in the early post-Cold War environment. She reached HMAS Stirling at Garden Island, near Perth, on June 1 for a four-day visit, then called at Diego Garcia in the British Indian Ocean Territory from July 1-7. On August 19, she arrived at Apra Harbor, Guam, for a three-week upkeep period, later visiting Hong Kong from September 22-26 and Yokosuka from October 8-18. She returned to Pearl Harbor on November 3, 1993 after a six-month deployment.

From January 29 to February 17, 1994 BREMERTON conducted prospective commanding officer operations, then executed Operational Reactor Safeguards Examination workups from March 14-18, March 22-31, and April 12-20, followed by the ORSE itself from April 26-May 5. On June 13, she departed Pearl Harbor for further eastern Pacific operations in support of CNO projects, visiting Point Loma from June 19-22, Alameda from July 1-5, Bangor from July 8-12 en route to Nanoose test range off British Columbia, Esquimalt from July 16-20, and Bangor again from July 20-23 before returning home on July 29. From August 4-19 she conducted another set of PCO operations. On August 20, 1994, she entered dry dock at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for emergent repairs, undocking on November 2 and returning immediately to sea for local operations from November 3-10. Later that month, she participated in an encounter exercise with the battle group built around the carrier USS CONSTELLATION (CV 64) from November 14-22, then carried out further Tactical Readiness Evaluation workups from November 28-December 9 and a TRE from December 12-16.

USS BREMERTON entered the floating dry dock USS COMPETENT (AFDM 6) at Pearl Harbor on January 14, 1995, for a three-month selected restricted availability. On May 18, Commander Ronald R. Cox relieved Commander Crochet. Shortly thereafter, on June 22, BREMERTON departed Pearl Harbor for acoustic trials at the Southeast Alaska Acoustic Measurement Facility near Ketchikan and to conduct another Operational Reactor Safeguards Examination, visiting Esquimalt from June 30-July 6 before returning to Pearl Harbor on July 27. She then carried out local operations from September 5-8 and 25-28, followed by pre-overseas movement certification and Tactical Readiness Evaluation evolutions from October 2-13. On October 26, 1995, she departed Pearl Harbor for another western Pacific deployment, again with the INDEPENDENCE battle group. She entered Apra Harbor from November 3-6, then visited Yokosuka from November 18-22 after the ANNUALEX 95 exercise with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, returned to Yokosuka from December 2-5, and called at Hong Kong from December 28, 1995 to January 2, 1996. In early 1996, she spent January 6-19 in Fleet Activities Sasebo for upkeep, then visited Subic Bay from March 17-23 and conducted further upkeep at Guam from March 28-April 14. She returned to Pearl Harbor on April 26, 1996, ending a six-month deployment, and from May 24-28 conducted another dependents' cruise to Lahaina.

From June 17 through July 24, 1997, BREMERTON embarked midshipmen for training and operated off southern California in support of the USS NIMITZ (CVN 68) battle group's FLEETEX, including a port visit to San Diego from July 3-8. On September 10, she left Pearl Harbor for yet another western Pacific deployment, conducting upkeep in Yokosuka from September 22-October 10, then visiting Chinhae from October 15-20 and Sasebo from November 22-28. In early December, she moored outboard the submarine tender USS FRANK CABLE (AS 40) in Apra Harbor for a four-day fleet maintenance availability from December 3-7, then remained in Apra from December 11-15 before returning to Sasebo from December 22-31. In early 1998, she was again in Apra Harbor for upkeep from January 27-February 7. On February 14, 1998, BREMERTON reached Suva, Fiji, for a six-day visit before returning to Pearl Harbor on March 2. In April 1998, she made another dependents' cruise to Lahaina from April 16-20, then conducted a midshipmen cruise off the U.S. east coast from May 27-July 2, demonstrating the mobility of Pacific Fleet submarines for training. From July 24-31 she took part in the multinational exercise RIMPAC 98 off Hawaii. On August 18, 1998, USS BREMERTON shifted homeport to Naval Submarine Base Point Loma in San Diego after a five-day transit from Pearl Harbor, reflecting the redistribution of LOS ANGELES-class boats along the U.S. west coast.

Early in 1999, BREMERTON completed a four-month drydocking selected restricted availability at San Diego and returned to sea for sea trials from February 10-11, acoustic trials from February 21-March 1, and an Operational Reactor Safeguards Examination from March 2-15. On March 11, 1999, she fired a single Mark 48 torpedo to sink the damaged bow section of the merchant ship NEW CARISSA off the Oregon coast. The bulk carrier had grounded near Coos Bay during a storm and broken in two, causing an oil spill, and after earlier attempts to scuttle the bow with gunfire from the destroyer USS DAVID R. RAY (DD 971) the Navy elected to use a torpedo from BREMERTON to ensure sinking in deep water while the stern section was salvaged separately. The operation represented an unusual public employment of a U.S. attack submarine's torpedo in a non-combat role. After the NEW CARISSA operation she continued local training and evaluation: local operations from March 22-April 1, additional periods at sea from May 13-23 and June 4-10, a Tactical Readiness Evaluation from June 21-July 2, and further local operations from August 5-6, 9-14, and August 24-September 3. On September 18, 1999, with Commander Robert L. Thomas in command, she departed Naval Amphibious Base Point Loma for a six-month western Pacific deployment, visiting Yokosuka from October 4-15, Apra Harbor from November 22-December 3, and Pattaya, Thailand, from December 13-19, and then mooring at Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore from December 22, 1999 to early January 2000. She subsequently visited Chinhae from January 12-14 and again from February 17-18, 2000, returned to Apra Harbor from February 22 for ten days, and completed the deployment when she came back to San Diego on March 18, 2000. At the end of that year she made a late-November to December 19 port visit to Pearl Harbor.

In early 2001, USS BREMERTON, now commanded by Commander Brian K. Nutt, made a four-day port visit to San Francisco, mooring at Pier 2, NAS Alameda, from February 2-6, then supported a composite training unit exercise from February 17-27 and completed pre-overseas movement certification from May 8-16. On June 4, 2001, she left San Diego for another western Pacific deployment, calling at Apra Harbor from June 18-20, anchoring off Pattaya Beach from August 11-17, and conducting a fleet maintenance availability alongside USS FRANK CABLE at Guam from August 29-September 14 after participating in Multi-Sail exercises. She then visited Sasebo from September 20-October 1, White Beach Naval Facility on Okinawa from November 4-5, and Yokosuka from November 11-17 after participating in the ANNUALEX exercise with Japanese forces, before stopping at Pearl Harbor from November 24-27 and returning to San Diego on December 4, 2001. On February 23, 2002, she left Point Loma for Bangor, Washington, to load an exercise Tomahawk land-attack missile variant from February 26-28 and returned on March 5, then conducted a torpedo shoot from March 11-13. On March 21, 2002, she entered the floating dry dock ARCO (ARDM 5) at Point Loma for a two-month selected restricted availability, undocking on April 29.

On March 14, 2003, USS BREMERTON, under Commander Charles J. Logan, departed Point Loma for another western Pacific deployment at the time of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Although based out of San Diego and operating primarily in the western Pacific, she was listed among the submarines assigned to the battle group built around the carrier USS KITTY HAWK (CV 63), which provided support to Operation Iraqi Freedom from the western Pacific and waters near Japan during the opening phase of the conflict. She reached Yokosuka on March 25 for four days, visited Apra Harbor from May 6-13, Saipan from May 14-20, returned to Apra from May 23-30, and then went back to Yokosuka for two weeks of upkeep beginning June 25. On July 1, 2003, the change of command for Commander, Submarine Group 7 and Task Force 54/74 was conducted aboard BREMERTON at Fleet Activities Yokosuka, with Rear Admiral John J. Donnelly relieving Rear Admiral Joseph E. Enright. She returned to San Diego on July 21 after more than four months at sea. In September 2003, BREMERTON changed homeport to Pearl Harbor, arriving there on September 16 after a six-day transit from San Diego, reflecting a concentration of LOS ANGELES-class boats in Hawaii for Pacific operations.

On February 2, 2004, USS BREMERTON entered Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a three-year engineered refueling overhaul, entering Dry Dock 1 on February 24. This overhaul included refueling her nuclear reactor and upgrading systems to extend her service life. On December 9, 2005, Commander Thomas A. Zwolfer relieved Commander Logan during a ceremony at the USS BOWFIN Museum at Pearl Harbor. On December 13, 2005, the submarine moved out of dry dock to Berth B1 at Naval Station Pearl Harbor. BREMERTON completed the first post-refueling sea trials on March 14, 2007, and returned to Pearl Harbor, re-entering the operational fleet after more than three years in major overhaul. On March 4, 2008, Commander Howard C. Warner III relieved Commander Zwolfer at Pearl Harbor.

Shortly after returning to full service, USS BREMERTON departed Pearl Harbor on July 29, 2008, for a western Pacific deployment, including a seven-day port visit to Singapore that concluded around October 10 and a subsequent call at Sasebo recorded on December 22. She returned to Pearl Harbor on January 29, 2009, after a six-month deployment and later that year, on August 26, made a goodwill port visit to Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton, strengthening ties with her namesake city. BREMERTON then spent two months in dry dock at Pearl Harbor, completing this maintenance by January 21, 2010. When USS LOS ANGELES (SSN 688) was decommissioned on January 23, 2010, BREMERTON became the oldest commissioned submarine in the U.S. fleet. On that day, the famous cribbage board of World War II submarine commander Richard O'Kane was ceremonially transferred from LOS ANGELES to BREMERTON, continuing a tradition of passing the board to the oldest operational attack submarine. On March 9, 2010, she completed a four-month drydocking selected restricted availability at Pearl Harbor and later that summer returned from participation in the RIMPAC 2010 exercise on July 30. During that exercise, she fired a Mark 48 torpedo to sink the decommissioned dock landing ship USS ANCHORAGE (LSD 36), another rare publicly noted live-fire torpedo event.

On August 6, 2010, Commander Caleb A. Kerr relieved Commander Warner and in January 2011, the boat was formally adopted by the city of Bremerton through a partnership led by the Bremerton-Olympic Peninsula Council of the U.S. Navy League, cementing civic ties that would continue throughout her remaining service. On April 5, 2011, USS BREMERTON departed Pearl Harbor for a deployment to the Fifth and Seventh Fleet areas of responsibility, operating both in the western Pacific and the Middle East at a time when U.S. submarine forces supported counterterrorism operations and maritime security in the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf. On June 21 she moored outboard the submarine tender USS EMORY S. LAND (AS 39) at Mina Salman in Manama, Bahrain, for a fleet maintenance availability, highlighting her role in forward operations under U.S. Fifth Fleet. Later in the year, she took part in the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Singapore exercise alongside U.S. and Singaporean naval units and returned to Pearl Harbor on October 5, 2011, after a six-month deployment.

On May 25, 2012, USS BREMERTON again visited Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton. Later that year, on October 29, she departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for another western Pacific deployment. On December 29, 2012, she moored outboard USS EMORY S. LAND at Subic Bay in the Philippines for tender support services. In early 2013, she made personnel transfer stops and port visits at Sasebo from January 24-30 and Yokosuka from March 8-14, then called at Apra Harbor on April 16 and briefly at Sasebo on May 13. She returned to Pearl Harbor on May 30, 2013, after a seven-month deployment that also included a port call to Chinhae, reinforcing U.S. undersea presence around the Korean Peninsula. On July 26, 2013, Commander Wesley P. Bringham relieved Commander Kerr in a ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

On January 30, 2014, BREMERTON entered Dry Dock 1 at Pearl Harbor for a 12-month drydocking selected restricted availability, undocking on July 23. She returned to sea for trials by January 15, 2015, making a brief stop at Pearl Harbor on February 3, and then on February 25, 2015, moored at Pier D, Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton, for a five-day visit that again linked the submarine and her namesake community. She resumed routine operations in the Hawaiian operating areas from August 4. On December 14, 2015, she departed Pearl Harbor for another western Pacific deployment, calling at White Beach Naval Facility on Okinawa from December 25 for a four-day liberty visit. On February 22, 2016, she arrived at Changi Naval Base in Singapore for a five-day visit, and on March 16 she moored at Chinhae Naval Base for a five-day port visit before participating in the annual joint exercise FOAL EAGLE with South Korean and U.S. forces. She then conducted upkeep at Akasaki Pier in Sasebo from April 6 for a week, made brief stops off Sasebo on April 17, 20, 21, and 23, and another brief stop off White Beach on May 23. On June 15, 2016, BREMERTON completed her fifteenth deployment, a six-month cruise exceeding 30,000 nautical miles and including port calls at Apra Harbor, Guam, during a period of heightened regional focus on North Korea and Chinese maritime activity.

On August 5, 2016, Commander Travis W. Zettel became her fifteenth commanding officer. Three days later, she departed Pearl Harbor for two weeks of multinational submarine exercises, then entered Dry Dock 2 at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a drydocking continuous maintenance availability in September, undocking on November 15. She closed the year with a six-day liberty port visit to Yokosuka from December 22, 2016. At this point, although originally scheduled for decommissioning in 2017, her service life was extended.

On February 16, 2017, USS BREMERTON briefly moored at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam as she continued local operations, returning to sea again a few days later. On July 20, 2017, she surpassed the ballistic-missile submarine USS KAMEHAMEHA (SSBN/SSN 642) in cumulative commissioned service and became the longest-commissioned U.S. Navy submarine, highlighting the longevity achieved through her mid-life overhaul and refueling. In the autumn of 2017, she departed Pearl Harbor for what would become her final western Pacific deployment, again visiting Yokosuka from December 22 for six days of liberty and operating in the broader western Pacific region. In early 2018, she made brief stops off White Beach Naval Facility on January 4 and January 17 for personnel transfers, then moored at RSS Singapura (the former Changi Naval Base) from February 14-20 for a six-day liberty port call to Singapore. On March 1, 2018, she arrived at Alava Pier in Subic Bay, Philippines, for a routine port call. On April 6, 2018, USS BREMERTON returned to Pearl Harbor from this final deployment. Two weeks later, on April 20, 2018, she left Pearl Harbor for the last time en route to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Washington, to enter the Navy's nuclear ship and submarine recycling program. She was placed in inactive reserve status on July 9, 2018.

As she transitioned to inactivation, BREMERTON experienced several changes of command. On August 27, 2018, the commodore of Submarine Squadron 19 relieved Commander Zettel due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command, with Commander David I. Kaiser, the squadron deputy commander, assuming temporary command of the submarine at Bremerton. On November 27, 2018, Commander Christopher C. Lindberg relieved Commander Kaiser and became the last commanding officer of USS BREMERTON. Over the following years, she remained at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in an inactivation and defueling status within the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program, with formal entry into Dry Dock 1 there recorded on October 14, 2020.

The end of BREMERTON's career came in 2021. A formal decommissioning ceremony took place at the U.S. Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, Washington, on May 18, 2021, held under COVID-19 restrictions and streamed online so that former crew could witness the event even though attendance in person was limited. According to the Naval Vessel Register and recycling program records, she was officially decommissioned on May 21, 2021 and redesignated ex-BREMERTON (SSN 698), remaining at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for the completion of defueling and eventual scrapping under the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program. This closed more than forty years of service from commissioning in March 1981 to final inactivation, during which USS BREMERTON took part in Cold War patrols, post-Cold War presence missions, live-fire operations such as the sinking of NEW CARISSA and ex-ANCHORAGE, and repeated deployments across the Pacific and Indian Oceans, while maintaining exceptionally long and continuous operational use as one of the longest-serving submarines in U.S. Navy history.

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USS BREMERTON Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by Sebastian Thoma and shows the BREMERTON at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., on May 15, 2018. The BREMERTON completed her final voyage from her old homeport of Pearl Harbor, Hi., to Bremerton, Wash., on April 27, 2018. The submarine is now undergoing a year-long inactivation process at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the BREMERTON laid up at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., on June 12, 2022.

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