USS ''Hunley'' (AS-31) was a

submarine tender A submarine tender, in British English a submarine depot ship, is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines. Development Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally cannot carry large amounts of foo ...

of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

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 The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 1950. The c ...

, and in 2007 sold as scrap to a metal recycling company in Louisiana. In September 2008, during

Hurricane Gustav Hurricane Gustav () was the second most destructive tropical cyclone of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. The seventh tropical cyclone, third hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, Gustav caused serious damage and Casualty (per ...

, the decommissioned ship broke free of its moorings in the New Orleans Inner Harbor, but caused little or no damage while adrift.

Design and construction

''Hunley'' had the distinction of being the first ship designed and built from the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

up to service and maintain the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered Ballistic Missile Submarine Fleet. She had complete facilities for servicing the complex Polaris Weapons Systems and for accomplishing any

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

repair other than a major

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

overhaul. The hull was laid down in by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company,

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the List of c ...

and sponsored by Mrs. J. Palmer Gaillard, wife of the Mayor of

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

. The ship was named in honor of Horace Lawson Hunley, the designer of the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel in naval history, the Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley.

Career

With Captain Douglas N. Syverson in command, ''Hunley'' sailed 25 July 1962 for

shakedown Shakedown or Shake Down may refer to: * Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation * Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational ...

training off Cuba until 6 September 1962. She visited several Gulf and Atlantic ports and returned to

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28 September for post-shakedown alterations until 8 December 1962. After which the ''Hunley'' paid a 3-day visit to New York City to host the Naval Reserve Officers Seminar "New Ships for the Modern Navy". She departed from the Norfolk Operating Base 29 December 1962 for

Holy Loch The Holy Loch () is a sea loch, part of the Firth of Clyde, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The "Holy Loch" name is believed to date from the 6th century, when Saint Munn landed there after leaving Ireland. Kilmun Parish Church and Argyll Mausole ...

, Scotland, arriving 9 January 1963. Almost immediately she began taking the load off USS ''Proteus'', whom she officially relieved 15 March 1963 as tender to Submarine Squadron 14 at Holy Loch. This duty continued until 12 April 1964 when ''Hunley'' sailed for conversion that provided capability of handling the new A3 Polaris Missile. She resumed her duties at Holy Loch on 15 June 1964. A Polaris milestone was reached in December 1965 when USS ''Thomas A. Edison'' came alongside to commence the 100th refit of a nuclear ballistic submarine (SSBN) by the ''Hunley''. This signified that one hundred SSBN submarines had gone out on time from ''Hunley'' and not one of them had to make an early return from patrol. This represented some 200 months of Polaris on station or 16 years of submerged strategic deterrent since ''Hunley's'' arrival in Holy Loch 9 January 1963. ''Hunley's'' motto was "We Serve to Preserve Peace". ''Hunley'' returned to the United States late in 1966 and in 1967 operated out of Charleston, South Carolina. ''Hunley'' put out for Guam on the day after Christmas, 1967, to relieve ''Proteus'' at Polaris Point from January to June 1968 while ''Proteus'' underwent a self-overhaul, with ''Hunley'' returning to Charleston in July 1968. In 1971 ''Hunley'' relieved ''Proteus'' in Guam again in order for ''Proteus'' to go to shipyard. It was while ''Hunley'' was in Guam that the Machinery Repair Division received the Meritorious Unit Commendation, having expended 4500 hours of repair labor on various units of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. In 1973 ''Hunley'' returned to Bremerton Shipyard for conversion overhaul. After completion ''Hunley'' returned to Charleston, South Carolina, to again service the Atlantic Fleet. In 1978, ''Hunley'' went to Boston Naval Shipyard for hull cleaning and hull valve repairs in preparation for relieving ''Proteus'' once again in Guam. In transit to Guam, ''Hunley'' went around South America rather than through the Panama Canal. In 1980, ''Hunley'' was relieved by ''Proteus'' and returned to Charleston via the Panama Canal. ''Hunley'' was decommissioned on 30 September 1994 and struck from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

on 3 May 1995 and turned over to the

on 1 May 1999. ''Hunley'' was subsequently sold to the

Southern Scrap Materials Company Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

on 5 January 2007 for scrapping.

Advanced capabilities

Among jobs carried out by ''Hunley'' was welding on SSBN pressure hulls or reactor plant fluid systems. Once unheard of in submarine tending, these jobs were only a few of many carried out by ''Hunley's'' crew. These and many other alterations were carried out as a matter of routine to keep SSBN's on the line with the newest possible technical improvements and safety devices. For example, an auxiliary "Sub-Safe" package was accomplished on the USS ''Theodore Roosevelt'' in which over 40 fittings and more than 100 feet of new piping in a major system were installed. A battery replacement for the USS ''Ethan Allen'' was completed in only 11 days. ''Hunley'' met demands from making water-borne

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

replacements to encapsulation of

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; delicate repairs to navigation and fire control, and many other varied tasks to ensure that each SSBN had the finest of care on each refit. In 1976 from June through September an Extended Refit was performed on an SSBN assigned to Hunley and a tiger team made up from the Hunley the SSBN and the Charleston shipyard completed an in drydock overhaul of many systems as well as hull and propeller. The Hunley team leaders were Lt. Charles (Chuck) Emery, Engine Chief Petty Officer G.A. Page and a second class Petty Officer George Campbell. After the ERP and the paperwork was completed the SSBN returned to her duties in the Atlantic.

Stowaway incident

After a 1973 port call in Sydney, en route to

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

, two teenage girls from New Zealand were found hiding out in one of the ''Hunley's'' missile crane control cabs, when a sailor was spotted carrying food up the ladder to the crane. ''Hunley'' was diverted to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

to offload the

stowaway A stowaway or clandestine traveller is a person who secretly boards a vehicle, such as a ship, an aircraft, a train, cargo truck or bus. Sometimes, the purpose is to get from one place to another without paying for transportation. In other c ...

s, and the "helpful" sailors were disciplined.Hunley stowaway incident
see report of From W. Wiacek, and the Note from Webmaster, who confuses the Hunley with the Proteus; see talk.

References

* *

External links

USS HUNLEY (AS-31) Reunion Info

MARAD PMARS DATA SHEET

images, history and tour at Southern Scrap

USS Hunley at Flickr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunley (AS-31) Hunley-class submarine tenders

Submarine tenders A submarine tender, in British English a submarine depot ship, is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines. Development Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally cannot carry large amounts of food ...

Submarine tenders of the United States Navy

Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States 1961 ships Maritime incidents in 2008 Ships built in Newport News, Virginia