U.S. Navy’s Pacific Submarine Force held a decommissioning ceremony for the Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS City of Corpus Christi (SSN 705) at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on May 30.
Following the decommissioning ceremony, City of Corpus Christi will transit to the Pacific Northwest where the submarine will be prepared for inactivation and removal from the roles of active U.S. naval warships.
During her 33 years of patrolling the world’s oceans, City of Corpus Christi has circumnavigated the globe, completed multiple overseas deployments and several first-in-class distinctions such as the first to complete an engineering refueling overhaul in record 24 months.
City of Corpus Christi has been assigned to Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, since her arrival to Apra Harbor, Guam, in October 2002, becoming the first-ever forward deployed fast-attack submarine. In May 2011, City of Corpus Christi came to Pearl Harbor for a final overhaul and to serve out its final years.
Guest speaker for the ceremony, Rear Adm. (ret.) Winford “Jerry” Ellis , City of Corpus Christi’s first commanding officer and whose last assignment was as commander of the Pacific Submarine Force here in Hawaii, shared some of the highlights from the commissioning of City of Corpus Christi at the Electric Boat Division of the General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on January 8, 1983.
“It was an incredible beginning of the life of this wonderful submarine,” said Ellis. “I am now standing on the decks again after an absence of more than 33 years, what a feeling of both happiness and sadness.”
Representing the city of Corpus Christi, Texas, the Veterans Band of Corpus Christi performed a Memorial Day tribute to open the ceremony, and Corpus Christi city councilman Mark Scott expressed his pride and gratitude to the crew.
“Today we pause to recognize a job well done and a journey ending,” said Scott. “To the men who served her, we say, ‘thank you.’ We know that it has not always been easy, but we know you have done it well, with pride, and have made it a better ship.”
City of Corpus Christi is the 18th ship of the Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarines and the 2nd ship to bear the name of Corpus Christi, Texas. The submarine is 362-feet long, displaces 6,100 tons, and can be armed with sophisticated Mk-48 advanced capability torpedoes.
62 Los Angeles-class submarines were built for the U.S. Navy from the early 1970s to the mid-1990s. With the decommissioning of City of Corpus Christi 38 now remain in service.