Submarine USS La Jolla Visits Namesake Township, Celebrates 30 Years of Service
By Ensign Jacob R. Davis
Submarine Squadron 11 Public Affairs

Release Date: 10/5/2011

(NAVAL BASE POINT LOMA, Calif.) – After more than 30 years of service, USS La Jolla (SSN 701) arrived in San Diego, Oct. 5, for a namesake port visit and to celebrate the anniversary of her commissioning.

USS La Jolla, which is currently homported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was commissioned Sept. 30, 1981. Since then, the submarine has been under the command of 15 commanding officers and has had more than 1,000 Sailors call her home.

"We are honored to be able to celebrate the ship's 30th anniversary in her namesake township," said Cmdr. Jeff Bernard, commanding officer USS La Jolla. "The crew is looking forward to participating in the many events that have been organized for this visit."

While in port, the crew will participate in several community relations events in La Jolla to give back to the township that their submarine is named after.

Members of the crew will visit schools and a veteran's hospital. All are looking forward to the opportunity of getting to know the citizens of La Jolla.

"I am excited to participate in the community relations projects," said Lt. j.g. Dom Rinaldi, who has been to San Diego several times. "I will be visiting students at La Jolla High School, and I'm interested to see what questions the students have and what they will think about submarines."

In addition to these events, the crew will attend a luncheon hosted by Shirley Wilson, the ship's sponsor, who started working with the boat before its commissioning and still looks out for the crew today.

"It's been three years since the ship last made a port visit to San Diego," said Petty Officer 2nd Class William Moran, who's finishing his service aboard USS La Jolla this week. "I am glad I will get one last chance to visit La Jolla as part of the crew. We had an awesome time during our last visit."

La Jolla's current crew is quite diverse, with members coming from 39 states and two U.S. territories. Fourteen members of the crew are Californians and are looking forward to returning to their home state.

"It's going to be great to see my family and friends again," said Lt. j.g. Travis Dziubla, who attended La Jolla High School. "I always love to return home."

Other members of the crew have never been to La Jolla and are excited to experience some of what their shipmates already have.

"I've never been to La Jolla," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Brendan Deuby. "I've heard lots of stories about what the other guys have done, and I've heard great things about Sea World and the zoo."

For the past 30 years, USS La Jolla has been instrumental in supporting national defense missions of the United States. Just before pulling into San Diego, La Jolla was involved in exercises in the Southern California operations area to train the crew for its next deployment.

"Having a well-trained crew is one of the most important aspects of submarining," said Cmdr. Bernard. "La Jolla would not have been so successful over the last 30 years had her crew not been on top of their game."

La Jolla, a Los Angeles-class, fast-attack submarine is one of the most combat seasoned submarines in the world. This class of submarine is capable of supporting a multitude of missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike, naval special warfare involving special operations forces, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

In March 1982, La Jolla transited the Panama Canal, transferred from Atlantic Fleet to the Pacific Fleet and commenced operating under the cognizance of Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. La Jolla measures 360 feet long and displaces more than 6,900 tons of water when submerged.