During the first few months, the squadron established headquarters at Pearl Harbor and laid groundwork for Polaris Operations in the Pacific. One of the most difficult tasks was establishing and executing the vast training program required for the Blue and Gold crews of each submarine. To meet this requirement, close cooperation with the officers in charge of various schools throughout the nation and Commanding Officers and crewmen of the submarines was necessary.
On 23 April 1964, USSDaniel Boone (SSBN 629) was commissioned at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California. She then became the squadron flagship and the first fleet ballistic missile submarine assigned to the Pacific Fleet. In the early dawn of 27 May 1964, Daniel Boone surfaced off Diamond Head, Hawaii, after completing a submerged transit from the mainland, and steamed into Pearl Harbor, where she became the first Polaris submarine ever to enter the port. Tecumseh, Ulysses S. Grant, and Stonewall Jackson were then commissioned in rapid sequence. Meanwhile, the squadron scheduled shakedown operations, type training and made ready for the first Polaris Patrol in the Pacific scheduled to commence in early 1965.
In October 1964, the permanent assignment of Commander Submarine Squadron Fifteen was changed from Pearl Harbor to Guam. A rear-echelon staff known as Commander Submarine Squadron Fifteen Representative was established in Pearl Harbor to handle the myriad of personnel and training functions connected with keeping the Polaris submarines crewed with the best-qualified and trained personnel possible.
On the morning of 29 November 1964, Proteus entered Apra Harbor, where she commenced setting up the third FBM replenishment site to support Polaris submarines. Subsequently, seven fleet ballistic missile submarines joined USS Proteus in Guam. Benjamin Franklin and Kamehameha arrived in 1966. Mariano G. Vallejo was commissioned and assigned to Submarine Squadron Fifteen in December 1966.
The year 1970 represented a significant period in the history of the squadron. During this period, the units of the 627/640 class completed Pacific service and departed for conversion to the Poseidon Weapons System, while 616 class overhaul units reported for duty as replacements in the Pacific Fleet strategic deterrent force.
On the morning of 14 October 1971, the submarine tender USSHunley entered Apra Harbor, Guam and immediately upon mooring at Polaris Point, set about the complex chore of relieving Proteus. On 2 November 1971, Proteus departed Guam en route to the U.S. Naval Shipyard, Mare Island, California, for an extensive shipyard overhaul.
During 1972 Hunley served as Site III support tender and flagship for Commander, Submarine Squadron Fifteen. During the summer months of 1972, Hunley conducted refit work on numerous SSNs in addition to SSBNs normally assigned. This additional workload was in direct support of an increased national readiness condition.
In January 1973, Proteus returned to Guam and relieved Hunley, which departed Guam for conversion at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington. The return of Proteus to Guam marked the end of the first significant time period that Proteus had been absent from Guam since establishing SSBN REFIT Site III in 1964.
During 1974, replacement of 616-class SSBNs was completed with the 598/608 class. The departure of James Monroe, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and the arrival of Theodore Roosevelt resulted in the following units assigned to the squadron: Proteus (flagship), George Washington, Patrick Henry, Theodore Roosevelt, Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln, Ethan Allen, Sam Houston, Thomas A. Edison, John Marshall and Thomas Jefferson.
From 25 December 1964 when Daniel Boone departed Guam on the first Polaris deterrent patrol in the Pacific until October 1981 when Robert E. Lee returned to Pearl Harbor from the last Polaris deterrent patrol, 23 different SSBNs completed 398 Polaris deterrent patrols in the Pacific in support of the United States strategic defense. On 30 September 1981, Submarine Squadron Fifteen ended its eighteen-year existence when it was disestablished in ceremonies on board Proteus in Apra Harbor, Guam.
Reactivation 2001
In a reactivation ceremony on board USSFrank Cable on 23 February 2001, Captain Jose R. Corpus, USN, became commander of Submarine Squadron Fifteen, formerly commander of Submarine Group Seven Representative Guam. On this day, Submarine Squadron Fifteen became an operational command, providing administrative, logistics and intelligence support for submarines and submarine support ships assigned to Seventh and Fifth Fleets in response to Naval and JCS tasking.
During 2002, the staff of Submarine Squadron Fifteen provided oversight and quality-assurance monitoring during maintenance performed by the assigned tender on three forward deployed submarines prior to their emergent deployments to the Gulf region during Operations Enduring Freedom and Noble Eagle. Submarine Squadron Fifteen was also actively involved in the force protection decisions and efforts of the Naval Station on board COMNAVMARIANAS immediately following the 11 September 2001 attacks.
They were the Navy's first forward-deployed and home-ported submarines. City of Corpus Christi , then commanded by CDR Robert Schmidt, was the eighteenth Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine; San Francisco, then commanded by CDR Paul Povlock, was the twenty-fourth Los Angeles-class.
On 5 July 2002, Typhoon Chataan struck Guam , with sustained winds of 115mph (185km/h) and gusts to 145mph (233km/h), causing substantial property damage. Submarine Squadron Fifteen personnel, assisted by sailors from Frank Cable, participated in post-typhoon recovery actions.
On 8 December 2002 Super-typhoon Pongsona struck Guam for a period of over 12 hours, with destructive winds in excess of 200 knots (370km/h). The President of the United States declared Guam a disaster area shortly after the storm passed. This storm, one of the two largest to ever strike Guam, significantly impacted the island's infrastructure and damaged both civilian and military facilities. A major fire at the island's gasoline storage facility delayed the recovery effort by limiting the availability of fuel for vehicles and emergency generators. Structures throughout the island, including homes, hospitals, businesses, governmental and military facilities, airports, and harbors were damaged or destroyed. Loss of life was minimized and basic services were rapidly restored due to the timely, aggressive and selfless effort of military personnel assigned to units of Submarine Squadron Fifteen. Frank Cable steamed at Polaris Point for two weeks while supporting the home-ported submarines.
Submarine Squadron Fifteen, Frank Cable, and both assigned submarines received the Humanitarian Service Medal for their service following Typhoon Chataan and Super-typhoon Pongsona.
On 23 December 2003 City of Corpus Christi completed the first-ever mission deployment in support of Commander Seventh Fleet operations by a forward based attack submarine home-ported in Guam.
USSSan Francisco in drydock on Guam after running into a seamount in 2005
On 8 January 2005 at 02:43 GMT, San Francisco struck an undersea mountain about 364 nautical miles (675km) southeast of Guam while operating at flank (maximum) speed and more than 500 feet (152m) deep. The collision was so serious that the vessel was almost lost; accounts detail a desperate struggle for positive buoyancy to surface after the forward ballast tanks were ruptured. Twenty-three crewmen were injured, and one crew member died of his injuries on 9 January.[1] Other injuries to the crew included broken bones, lacerations, and a back injury. San Francisco's forward ballast tanks and her sonar dome were severely damaged, but her inner hull was not breached, and there was no damage to her nuclear reactor. She surfaced and, accompanied by USCGCGalveston Island, USNSGYSGT Fred W. Stockham, and USNSKiska, as well as MH-60S Knighthawks and P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft, arrived in Guam on 10 January. The US Navy immediately stated that there was "absolutely no reason to believe that it struck another submarine or vessel." Later, an examination of the submarine in drydock showed unmistakably that the submarine had indeed struck an undersea mountain to which there were only vague references on the charts available to San Francisco.
Due to the damage to San Francisco, USSHouston replaced her. Houston arrived in December 200. The third submarine, USSBuffalo, arrived in July 2007.
In early 2011, USSOklahoma City relieved City of Corpus Christi, kicking off the Guam SSN rotation with Hawaii. USSChicago relieved Houston in April 2012.[2] The rotation completed in 2013, with USSKey West replacing Buffalo.
The squadron consists of the Los Angeles-class submarines, and has approximately 80 personnel on staff. The squadron also supports every deploying SSN in the Pacific Fleet Area of Operations, as well as the SSGNs USSOhio and SSGNs USSMichigan, which are home-ported in Bangor, Washington.
Assignments
As of 2022, the submarines assigned to SUBRON 15 included:
USS Patrick Henry (SSBN-599), named after the American Revolutionary War figure and Founding Father Patrick Henry (1736–1799), was a George Washington class nuclear-powered fleet ballistic missile submarine of the United States Navy. She was later converted into an attack submarine and redesignated SSN-599.
USS George Washington (SSBN-598) was the United States's first operational ballistic missile submarine. She was the lead ship of her class of nuclear ballistic missile submarines, was the third United States Navy ship of the name, in honor of Founding Father George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States, and was the first of that name to be purpose-built as a warship.
USS Theodore Roosevelt (SSBN-600), a George Washington-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for President Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919). Initially unnamed and assigned hull classification symbol SSGN-600 as a guided missile submarine, her keel was laid down on 20 May 1958 by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard using components initially assembled for the Skipjack-class submarine nuclear attack submarine USS Scamp(SSN-588). She was named Theodore Roosevelt and redesignated fleet ballistic missile submarine SSBN-600 on 6 November 1958, launched on 3 October 1959, sponsored by Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt and widow of Nicholas Longworth III, and commissioned on 13 February 1961 with Commander William E. Sims commanding the Blue Crew and Commander Oliver H. Perry, Jr. commanding the Gold Crew.
USS Abraham Lincoln (SSBN-602), a George Washington-class fleet ballistic missile submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th President of the United States (1861–1865).
USS Sam Houston (SSBN-609/SSN-609), an Ethan Allen-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after Sam Houston (1793–1863), president of the Republic of Texas. Sam Houston was the US Navy's seventh ballistic missile submarine.
USS John Marshall (SSBN-611) was an Ethan Allen-class submarine, the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for John Marshall (1755–1835), the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. Originally a fleet ballistic missile submarine designated SSBN-611, she later was reclassified as an attack submarine and re-designated SSN-611.
The third USS Proteus (AS-19) was a Fulton-class submarine tender in the United States Navy.
USS John Adams (SSBN-620), a Lafayette-class ballistic missile submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Founding Father John Adams (1735–1826), the second President of the United States (1797–1801), and his son John Quincy Adams (1767–1848), the sixth President of the United States (1825–1829). Both names were used with the captains of the Blue and Gold crews alternately using the names John Adams and John Quincy Adams.
USS Woodrow Wilson (SSBN-624), a Lafayette class ballistic missile submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924), the 28th President of the United States (1913–1921). She later was converted into an attack submarine and redesignated SSN-624.
USS Kamehameha (SSBN-642) was a Benjamin Franklin-class ballistic missile submarine and the only ship in the United States Navy to be named after Kamehameha I, the first King of Hawaii. She is one of only two United States ships named after a monarch. She was later reclassified as an attack submarine and re-designated SSN-642.
USS Tecumseh (SSBN-628), a James Madison-class ballistic missile submarine, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for Tecumseh (c.1768–1813), the leader of the Shawnee people.
USS Ulysses S. Grant (SSBN-631), a James Madison-class fleet ballistic missile submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), American Civil War general and the 18th President of the United States (1869-1877).
USS Stonewall Jackson, a James Madison-class fleet ballistic missile submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Confederate States Army General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson (1824–1863).
USS Columbia (SSN-771) is the 21st flight III, or Improved (688i) Los Angeles-class attack submarine of the United States Navy. Commissioned in 1995, the submarine is assigned to Submarine Squadron 7 and homeported in Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
USS Buffalo (SSN-715) was a Los Angeles-class submarine, the second vessel that actively served the United States Navy to be named for Buffalo, New York. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 23 February 1976, and her keel was laid down on 25 January 1980. She was launched on 8 May 1982 sponsored by Mrs. Joanne Kemp, wife of former Buffalo Bills quarterback and New York's 31st congressional district representative Jack Kemp, who was credited with winning approval to name the ship after the city in his district. Buffalo was commissioned on 5 November 1983, with Commander G. Michael Hewitt in command. Buffalo was decommissioned on 30 January 2019 after 35 years of service.
USS Columbus (SSN-762) is a Los Angeles-class nuclear powered fast attack submarine and the second vessel of the United States Navy to be named for Columbus, Ohio. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 21 March 1986 and her keel was laid down on 9 January 1991. She was launched on 1 August 1992 sponsored by Mrs. Margaret DeMars, wife of Admiral Bruce DeMars and commissioned on 24 July 1993.
USS Holland was a submarine tender in service with the United States Navy from 1963 to 1996.
USS Hunley (AS-31) was a submarine tender of the United States Navy launched on 28 September 1961 and commissioned 16 June 1962. The Hunley was designed to tend most of the long-term requirements of the Polaris Class of submarines. The ship achieved several records and milestones in its service. 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. 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.
Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC) is the principal advisor to the Commander, United States Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT) for submarine matters. The Pacific Submarine Force (SUBPAC) includes attack, ballistic missile and auxiliary submarines, submarine tenders, floating submarine docks, deep submergence vehicles and submarine rescue vehicles throughout the Pacific.
Submarine Squadron 14 , was a United States Navy submarine squadron.
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