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USS Honolulu (SSN 718)

Named after the largest city in the state of Hawaii, USS HONOLULU was one of the nuclear powered attack submarines of the LOS ANGELES - class and the third ship in the Navy to bear the name.

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Crew List:

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

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USS HONOLULU History:

The attack submarine USS HONOLULU began its history when the U.S. Navy awarded the construction contract to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company on September 15, 1977, as part of the first "flight" of LOS ANGELES-class nuclear-powered attack submarines. Her keel was laid at Newport News on November 10, 1981, she was launched on September 24, 1983, with Joan B. Clark as sponsor, and she was commissioned at Naval Station Norfolk on July 6, 1985, with commander Robert M. Mitchell in command. From the outset she was notable within the class for her split stern planes, arranged on independent hydraulic systems so that inboard and outboard planes could be operated separately, a configuration intended to reduce the chance that a single failure could cause loss of depth control. During construction and early service, she was assigned to Submarine Squadron 8 on the U.S. east coast, reflecting the Navy's practice of bringing new nuclear submarines into service from Atlantic yards before reallocating them to their long-term homeports in either ocean.

Shortly after commissioning, USS HONOLULU entered a period of shakedown operations from Norfolk. Between August 26 and September 28, 1985, she made her first voyage, heading south to the Caribbean to conduct weapons system accuracy tests out of Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico and to call at St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, before moving to the AUTEC range in the Bahamas for acoustic trials and then returning to Norfolk. In the final months of 1985, she completed Harpoon anti-ship missile certification, underwent her first Operational Reactor Safeguards Examination in late October, and returned to AUTEC in November for MK 48 torpedo certification, concluding her initial combat-systems workups before a holiday stand-down. In early 1986, she joined Atlantic Fleet exercises LANTSUBASWEX 3-86 and FLEETEX 1-86, gaining experience in anti-submarine warfare and coordinated operations with carrier and surface forces at a time when the U.S. Navy was still focused on countering Soviet naval power in the North Atlantic. From March 10 to August 9, 1986, USS HONOLULU underwent a post-shakedown availability at Newport News, where deficiencies discovered during early operations were corrected and minor improvements incorporated before she shifted to the Pacific Fleet.

On August 25, 1986, she left Norfolk for her new homeport at Pearl Harbor. En route she made a liberty call at Fort Lauderdale, then transited the Panama Canal and crossed the equator on September 6, 1986, conducting the traditional "crossing the line" ceremony for many of her crew. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on September 21, 1986, and transferred to Submarine Squadron 7, joining the growing LOS ANGELES-class presence in the central Pacific as the Navy reoriented more of its nuclear attack submarine force toward the western Pacific and Indian Ocean. In the last quarter of 1986, USS HONOLULU remained largely in port, completing a nuclear weapons acceptance inspection and a supply management inspection while the crew settled into the new homeport. Early 1987, was occupied by local training, FLEETEX 1-87 and prospective commanding officer support operations, followed by a pre-overseas movement work-up and upkeep period that prepared the boat for her first long deployment.

USS HONOLULU departed Pearl Harbor on May 12, 1987, for her first Western Pacific deployment. On May 22, she entered Moen harbor at Truk (Chuuk) in Micronesia, becoming the first U.S. warship to visit the lagoon since the Second World War, a reminder of its former role as a major Japanese base. During departure, she made light contact with the bottom, damaging her rudder. The incident required a diversion to Guam for repairs alongside a tender before she could continue operations. After completing maintenance, she left Guam on June 15 for patrols and exercises in the western Pacific. Later that summer she visited Subic Bay in the Philippines, arriving on August 19 for upkeep and liberty, then moved to Yokosuka, Japan, for additional maintenance before sailing south to Hong Kong, where she visited from September 11 to 16. In October, she returned to Yokosuka for final upkeep from October 13 to 21, then headed back across the Pacific, arriving at Pearl Harbor on October 30, 1987. The remainder of the year was spent in post-deployment stand-down and routine upkeep, closing a first deployment that had combined Cold War surveillance missions with visible port calls across the U.S. alliance network in east and southeast Asia.

At the start of 1988, USS HONOLULU entered dry dock at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for her first selected restricted availability, beginning January 7. Work focused on maintenance and improvements typical of a relatively new nuclear submarine after its first years of service. On May 30, 1988, she left Pearl Harbor to undertake at-sea testing of upgraded sonar systems and to take part in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, the large biennial multinational maritime exercise held around Hawaii that emphasizes anti-submarine warfare, air defense, amphibious operations and coalition interoperability. After several weeks of combined operations with ships and submarines from allied navies, she enjoyed a port visit to San Diego over the U.S. Independence Day period before returning to Hawaii. On the way home, she underwent an unscheduled Operational Reactor Safeguards Examination, which she successfully completed, and then entered a two-week upkeep in port. Soon afterwards, she supported prospective commanding officer operations with USS LOUISVILLE (SSN 724) off the Barking Sands range near Kauai, ending that period with a liberty visit to Lahaina, Maui and a dependents' cruise back to Pearl Harbor that brought family members to sea for a short passage. September 1988 was largely devoted to in-port maintenance, after which USS HONOLULU participated in the Pacific Submarine Anti-Submarine Warfare Exercise (PACSUBASWEX) 89-1 in October and conducted additional systems tests in preparation for another overseas deployment.

On December 27, 1988, the submarine left Pearl Harbor for her second Western Pacific cruise. After completing an initial period of at-sea operations she arrived in Yokosuka on January 29, 1989 for ten days of upkeep, then returned to sea for the PACSUBASWEX 89-2 exercise. From February 24 to March 9, she lay in Subic Bay, combining maintenance alongside a tender with liberty for the crew and community-relations activities in the local area, before putting to sea again for another month of operations. During this deployment she visited Hong Kong, mooring outboard the fleet ocean tug USS SIOUX (T-ATF 171), before continuing north. At the end of April, she arrived in Chinhae, South Korea, from April 30 to May 4, berthing alongside the submarine tender USS PROTEUS (AS 19). The visit included tours ashore at Busan and other nearby locations, reflecting the emphasis on alliance relations during the final years of the Cold War. Later in the deployment, USS HONOLULU returned to Guam for upkeep with PROTEUS after further at-sea missions, then sailed back to Hawaii, reaching Pearl Harbor on June 28, 1989. After post-deployment leave and a nuclear weapons inspection, she again put to sea on September 8, 1989, for a North Pacific deployment, returning on October 30. The last months of 1989 alternated between local services to surface units and time in dry dock, where she entered on December 1 for maintenance.

In 1990, USS HONOLULU remained largely in the eastern and central Pacific. Through the first quarter, she conducted local research and development operations, completed a Tactical Readiness Evaluation and then spent March and April in upkeep. On May 28, 1990, she departed for another North Pacific deployment, returning on July 28. This patrol took place just as the international crisis over Iraq's invasion of Kuwait was beginning, but the submarine's recorded operations remained focused on the northern Pacific rather than the Middle East. In August and September 1990, she supported prospective commanding officer operations and underwent another Operational Reactor Safeguards Examination. From October to November, she moved into the floating dry dock RESOLUTE (AFDM 6) for a selected restricted availability, then completed sea trials and shakedown in December before a holiday stand-down. Early 1991 was devoted to PCO operations, a Tactical Readiness Evaluation and Tactical Weapons Proficiency, preparing the boat and crew for a longer deployment. On May 23, 1991, USS HONOLULU departed Pearl Harbor for a Western Pacific cruise during which she worked with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force and Republic of Korea Navy and made port calls at Yokosuka, Chinhae, Sasebo, Guam and Singapore. These operations took place in the immediate aftermath of the Gulf War, at a time when the U.S. Navy was refining its post-Cold War presence in northeast and southeast Asia. Returning to Hawaii late in 1991, she capped the year with a dependents' cruise from Oahu to Kona in December and then stood down for the holidays.

The pattern of local operations, multinational exercises and deployments continued into the early 1990s. In January 1992, USS HONOLULU conducted local operations from January 7-24, then ran a prospective commanding officers' period from January 31 to February 14. From February 17 to March 20 she was in upkeep, followed by the work-up for another Tactical Readiness Evaluation. She completed TRE on April 27-29, 1992, and from May 6-18 participated in PACSUBASWEX 92-3, an exercise in which four submarines developed and tested active-sonar anti-submarine tactics. After a maintenance period from May 19 to June 19 she prepared for that year's RIMPAC, getting underway on July 7 for an Eastern Pacific deployment and the multinational RIMPAC 92 exercise, which brought together naval forces from the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea. From July 23 to August 26, 1992, she visited San Diego and Alameda in California and then Bangor, Nanaimo and Esquimalt in the Pacific Northwest and western Canada, taking part in torpedo-development work at the Nanoose test range in British Columbia. On completing this series of operations she returned to Pearl Harbor and entered a Depot Modernization Period from September 1992 through March 1994, an 18-month modernization and overhaul that updated her combat systems and extended her service life.

Leaving dry dock on April 7, 1994, USS HONOLULU spent the following months in intensive crew training and a three-phase crew certification program that lasted from May through August. From October 3 to 19, she was at sea for tactical weapons certification, and between October 26 and December 13, 1994 she conducted an Eastern Pacific deployment that included combined U.S.-Canadian operations and a sequence of port visits to Nanoose (November 4-8), Esquimalt (November 10-14), Alameda (November 25-30) and San Diego (December 3-6), returning to Pearl Harbor in time for the year-end stand-down.

In early 1995, she again alternated between local operations and short special events, including a VIP cruise on January 13 and a dependents' cruise from January 14-17, followed by upkeep. From April 17-25, 1995 USS HONOLULU participated in ENCOUNTEREX with the ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72) battle group, working as part of a carrier strike formation that was preparing for its own deployment, and in May she underwent TRE work-ups and inspections, then pre-deployment maintenance from May 20 to July 5. She completed Tactical Weapons Proficiency on July 10-15 and passed Pre-Overseas Movement Certification from July 21-28. On August 10, 1995, she left Pearl Harbor for another Western Pacific deployment.

During the August 1995 to February 1996 cruise, USS HONOLULU conducted missions described in official summaries as "vital to national security", reflecting the classified nature of attack-submarine tasking, while also making extended port visits. She twice visited Yokosuka (August 21-31 and October 10-28), called at Singapore (September 8-16) and Pattaya Beach in Thailand (September 19-24), spent the Christmas and New Year period in Guam (December 24-January 8), and finished with a visit to Brisbane, Australia (January 19-24). She returned to Pearl Harbor on February 7, 1996, then entered post-deployment upkeep through March.

From April through June 1996, she spent several weeks at sea providing support for Tactical Readiness Evaluations of USS TAUTOG (SSN 639), USS PASADENA (SSN 752) and USS HENRY M. JACKSON (SSBN 730). In May, she conducted a dependents' cruise to Maui from May 10-14 and a VIP cruise on May 15, and later in May and June she took part in RIMPAC 96, operating with the INDEPENDENCE (CV 62) battle group and other multinational forces. From June 18 to August 4, she underwent intermediate-level maintenance in Pearl Harbor. In the second half of 1996, the submarine completed Tactical Weapons Proficiency from August 22 to September 6, TRE from September 10-19 and an Operational Reactor Safeguards Examination from November 14-27, while also supporting USS LOUISVILLE and USS CHARLOTTE (SSN 766). She then went into holiday stand-down at year's end.

In January 1997, USS HONOLULU was in port for pre-deployment upkeep and training. From February 9-13 she completed POMCERT, then took a short stand-down while also hosting photographer Brian Wolfe, who photographed life on board for a later publication. On March 3, 1997, she left Pearl Harbor for another Western Pacific deployment. Between March and August 1997, she again conducted classified missions in the region while participating in Exercise SEA EAGLE 97 with the Royal Thai Navy and maritime patrol aircraft, focusing on anti-submarine and surface warfare in southeast Asian waters. Port visits included Okinawa on May 3 and Pattaya Beach from May 12-17, where crew members worked with sailors from USS CURTS (FFG 38), USS INDEPENDENCE and USS CURTIS WILBUR (DDG 54) to carry out repairs and improvements at a school for homeless children. In Sasebo, where she berthed from May 24-June 3 and again on July 6, the submarine hosted Japanese civilian and naval dignitaries, underlining the political dimension of U.S. naval visits to Japanese ports. During a stop in Guam from July 29 to August 6, USS HONOLULU assisted in efforts to rescue survivors of Korean Air Flight 801, which had crashed on approach to Guam on August 6, 1997, a major aviation disaster that drew on U.S. military resources for search-and-rescue and support. She returned to Pearl Harbor on August 27, 1997, closing another extended WestPac deployment.

From October 20, 1997 to January 30, 1998, the submarine remained in port for a selected restricted availability. After sea trials from January 31 to February 1, 1998, she conducted PCO operations from February 9-14. In March, she welcomed a number of visitors, among them Derek Quigley, chairman of the New Zealand parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, defense and trade, U.S. luge Olympians Gordy Sheer and Brian Martin, and members of the "721 Club", reflecting the ongoing interest of foreign officials and veterans' organizations in nuclear submarine operations. Between March 15 and April 2, 1998, USS HONOLULU sailed to Submarine Base Bangor in Washington State and to the Southeast Alaska Acoustic Facilities (SEAFAC) range, where she conducted sound trials and in Bangor took part in the first Tomahawk Land Attack Missile loading exercise by a fast-attack submarine at Strategic Weapons Facility Pacific. From April 15-27 she supported TRE and Tactical Weapons Proficiency work-ups for other units, then successfully completed her own TWP from April 28-30 and a short-notice Operational Reactor Safeguards Examination on May 5-6. A dependents' cruise to Lahaina, Maui, from May 9-11 followed before she entered dry dock at Pearl Harbor on June 4. She left dry dock on July 9, completed sea trials from July 28-30, then ran another PCO operations period from August 2-15, followed by a port call at Kona, Hawaii from August 21-24. September 1998 was devoted to preparation for her next overseas deployment.

In the last quarter of 1998, USS HONOLULU spent much of her time at sea preparing for a new deployment and for another round of inspections, completing TRE and POMCERT between December 14 and 18. On October 22, 1998, her commanding officer, Commander Cecil D. Haney, received the Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Leadership Award in Washington, D.C., recognition that also reflected the boat's strong performance under his command. On January 4, 1999, she sailed from Pearl Harbor for yet another Western Pacific deployment. From January to July 1999, she operated widely in the region, taking part in the multinational exercise TANDEM THRUST 99, which brought together U.S., Australian and Canadian forces under Seventh Fleet to practice joint task-force operations, and during which she simulated attacks on the carrier USS KITTY HAWK (CV 63) and other warships, exercising the strike and anti-ship roles of the LOS ANGELES-class. Port visits included Yokosuka (January 13-22 and June 7-21), Guam (April 4-18), Okinawa (April 20-24), Sasebo (May 15-17) and Pattaya Beach (May 24-30). She also received visitors such as Rear Admiral Masanori Ogino of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, underlining the importance of submarine cooperation with allied navies. USS HONOLULU returned to Pearl Harbor on July 1, 1999. Over the following months she hosted several VIP groups from Singapore and South Korea, including senior officers and lawmakers, reflecting the continued diplomatic and military engagement around the Korean Peninsula and southeast Asia.

From October 12 to November 23, 1999, USS HONOLULU took part in EASTPAC 99, working with the JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74) battle group in major exercises including a Fleet Exercise (FLEETEX) and a Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX). During this period, she stopped in Bangor, Washington, from October 18-22, where she launched an exercise Tomahawk missile, and visited San Diego from October 27-29 and November 8-12 before returning to Pearl Harbor. December 1999, was spent preparing for a mine-warfare certification and in holiday stand-down. The first months of 2000 were dominated by inspections and preparations: from January 10-14 she completed a Mine Readiness Certification Inspection and torpedo exercise, from January 18-26 she underwent a Combat Systems Readiness Review, from January 27 to February 11, she again conducted PCO operations, on February 15-16 she passed an INSURV material inspection, and from February 28 to March 16 she was under evaluation in another Operational Reactor Safeguards Examination. From March 16 to April 25, 2000, USS HONOLULU was in pre-overseas movement upkeep, after which she went to sea from April 25 to May 5 for noise-evaluation trials. A further period of upkeep and pre-deployment training ran from May 5 to June 16, and in July-August 2000, she completed pre-deployment training and a final POM upkeep and certification. On September 7, 2000, she departed Pearl Harbor for yet another Western Pacific deployment.

The September 2000 to February 2001 deployment again combined classified missions with high-profile exercises. USS HONOLULU took part in Exercise FOAL EAGLE, the large annual combined field-training exercise held in South Korea by U.S. and Republic of Korea forces, and in ANNUALEX, an annual U.S.-Japan maritime exercise in the Sea of Japan led by the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. She visited Yokosuka three times (September 18-22, November 18-21 and December 24-31), Chinhae in South Korea from October 20-22, and Sasebo from November 2-8. She then returned to Pearl Harbor in February 2001. Over the next year, she remained based in Hawaii, alternating shorter local operations, training periods and maintenance as the U.S. Navy adjusted to the post-September 11 security environment and increased focus on the Middle East and Central Asia. In mid-2002, USS HONOLULU took part in RIMPAC 2002 around Hawaii, where she trained with the Australian submarine HMAS SHEEAN. The two boats worked as adversary submarines in anti-submarine warfare scenarios, simulating the detection, tracking and attack of opposing submarines in support of a larger multinational exercise that also featured missile firings and amphibious landings.

On August 21, 2002, USS HONOLULU sailed from Pearl Harbor for what would become her most strategically visible deployment. From August 2002 to April 13, 2003, she was on Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf operations, spending roughly eight months attached to U.S. Seventh Fleet and operating as part of the ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72) carrier battle group (later designated Carrier Strike Group 9) as that formation supported Operation Enduring Freedom and then Operation Iraqi Freedom. Operating largely from the Arabian Sea and Arabian Gulf, USS HONOLULU conducted covert intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and contributed to the overall strike and sea-control capability of the group as coalition forces moved from air operations over Afghanistan to the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. On April 13, 2003, she returned to Pearl Harbor after what official releases described as a seven-and-a-half- to eight-month combat deployment in direct support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Following this high-tempo deployment, USS HONOLULU spent April to September 2003 in local operations in the Hawaiian operating areas. Then, from September to November 2003, she deployed north into the Arctic. In October 2003, she surfaced through the ice about 280 miles from the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean, where a series of U.S. Navy photographs captured three polar bears approaching and inspecting the submarine's bow and sail over nearly two hours. While such images became widely known, they formed only a small part of a broader, largely classified operation in which, under Commander Charles Harris, USS HONOLULU collected scientific data and water samples on behalf of U.S. and Canadian universities in cooperation with the Arctic Submarine Laboratory and the National Science Foundation. These activities paralleled growing scientific and strategic interest in the Arctic region as sea ice patterns changed and concerns about environmental monitoring and new sea routes increased. After returning south, she resumed local operations around Hawaii from November 2003 through May 2004, including hosting VIP visitors such as golfer Michelle Wie on February 9, 2004.

From June to October 2004, USS HONOLULU undertook another Western Pacific deployment. During this period, she again carried out classified missions in support of U.S. and allied interests in the western Pacific and East Asian seas while making port calls in the region, though publicly available summaries provide fewer details than for earlier deployments.

By 2006, USS HONOLULU was approaching the end of her planned service life. A farewell ceremony was held at Pearl Harbor in mid-April 2006, widely reported as taking place on April 15, 2006, attended by Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona, U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Gary Roughead and former commanding officer Vice Admiral Jonathan Greenert, among others, recognizing more than two decades of operational service. In early May, she went to sea for one final deployment, leaving Pearl Harbor on May 13, 2006, for another Western Pacific cruise that continued into October. On her return she did not go back to Hawaii but instead entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Washington, arriving in October 2006 to begin inactivation, decommissioning and preparation for recycling. On November 1, 2006, she was in the yard for stand-down and dismantling activities, and on November 2, 2007, she was formally decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register, entering the Navy's nuclear-powered ship and submarine recycling program.

USS HONOLULU's story did not entirely end with her decommissioning. In an unusual and technically demanding decision, the Navy chose to recycle the forward section of her pressure hull to repair USS SAN FRANCISCO (SSN 711), which had suffered severe damage in a 2005 grounding on an undersea seamount south of Guam. Puget Sound Naval Shipyard undertook a "bow transplant", grafting the intact forward hull of the retired submarine onto SAN FRANCISCO's surviving aft section - a one-of-a-kind project that preserved a valuable attack submarine and demonstrated the adaptability of LOS ANGELES-class design and shipyard skills. The work was completed on October 20, 2008, at which point ex-HONOLULU's forward hull effectively continued in service on another boat while the remaining sections were dismantled under the recycling program.

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