USS Bremerton Returns from Western Pacific Deployment
By MC2 Ronald Gutridge
COMSUBPAC Public Affairs

Release Date: 10/5/2011

(PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii) – Los Angeles-class submarine USS Bremerton (SSN 698) returned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Oct. 5, after completing a scheduled six-month deployment.

Bremerton's commanding officer, Cmdr. Caleb Kerr, commented that the crew, which consists of 140 officers and enlisted Sailors, performed extremely well for the entire deployment.

"Bremerton completed a very successful deployment operating in both the U.S. 5th and U.S. 7th Fleets and accomplished numerous missions vital to national security." said Kerr. "Although we are the oldest submarine in the United States inventory, we were able to remain at sea and accomplish all assigned tasking, never having to return to port due to a material issue."

Bremerton departed Pearl Harbor April 5, 2011, on deployment. The crew returned with a wealth of submarine experience and advanced qualifications, which included 17 Sailors that became submarine qualified and are now authorized to wear the Submarine Warfare insignia or "Dolphins."

For many crewmembers of Bremerton, this deployment was their first where according to Kerr, they accomplished the mission tasking with a lot of drive and determination. The crew also experienced many different cultures and lifestyles during their port visits to Singapore, Bahrain, Diego Garcia and Guam.

"This was the first deployment for approximately half the crew and their professionalism and motivation for continuously performing at an optimum level in a multitude of scenarios was inspiring," said Kerr. "Our extensive pre-deployment training fully prepared all of us for a six month deployment to two separate theaters of operation in some of the most challenging littoral environments on the planet."

Bremerton is named in honor of the city of Bremerton, Wash., home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and a city with a long association with both the Navy and the Submarine Force. She is the tenth ship of the Los Angeles-class. Her keel was laid by General Dynamics' Electric Boat Division in Groton, Conn. May 1976. She was commissioned March 28, 1981. Bremerton is 361-feet long and displaces over 6,100 tons. Los Angeles-class submarines are ideally suited for covert missions. This stealth, when combined with the submarine's Tomahawk cruise missiles and torpedoes, provide the operational commander with an unseen force multiplier.