Submarine Squadron 16 is a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

unit that served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and the Cold War before being deactivated in the 1990s. It was reactivated in 1997 and now is responsible for the maintenance and operation of two guided-missile submarines (SSGNs) and one ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN) based in Kings Bay, Georgia.

World War II service

Squadron 16 was first established in World War II. It was credited with sinking more than 500,000 tons of enemy shipping. It was deactivated following the war. In the course of its service, the Squadron was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and six

Navy Unit Commendation The Navy Unit Commendation (NUC) is a United States Navy unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944. History Navy and U.S. Marine Corps commands may recommend any Navy or Marine Cor ...

Cold War service

Squadron 16 was recommissioned in Charleston, South Carolina on October 18, 1963 and was given command of the second nuclear-missile submarine squadron to exist in the US Navy. The Squadron was deployed to

Rota Rota or ROTA may refer to: Places * Rota (island), in the Marianas archipelago * Rota (volcano), in Nicaragua * Rota, Andalusia, a town in Andalusia, Spain * Naval Station Rota, Spain People * Rota (surname), a surname (including a list of peop ...

, Spain on January 28, 1964, from which it conducted routine deterrent patrols. Between early 1970 and January 1974, the Squadron's submarines were converted to handle the Poseidon missile, replacing the previously used

Polaris missile The UGM-27 Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fueled nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). As the United States Navy's first SLBM, it served from 1961 to 1980. In the mid-1950s the Navy was involved in the Jupiter missi ...

. Following treaty renegotiations between the United States and Spain in 1975, Squadron 16 withdrew from Rota and moved to the

Kings Bay Naval Base Kings or King's may refer to: * Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The '' Shahnameh ...

in southeastern Georgia. The Squadron was deactivated on June 25, 1994 as part of the draw-down in US submarine forces following the Cold War. During its time in Rota, submarines and were included in Squadron 16, though they did not remain with it for the entirety of its Cold War service.

Current service

Submarine Squadron 16 was reactivated on August 8, 1997 as part of a reorganization within the Navy to provide better support to its smaller units. Originally, the squadron was intended to evenly split the command of the ten submarines stationed at Kings Bay with the other squadron stationed there,

Submarine Squadron 20 Submarine Squadron 20 is a United States Navy unit responsible for the maintenance and operation of five Ohio class submarine, ''Ohio''-class ballistic missile submarines. Military service The Squadron is currently stationed at the Naval Submarin ...

. These two squadrons operated jointly beginning in 2005 after the number of submarines at Kings Bay dropped to six. They continued joint operations until 2009, at which point Squadron 16 took command of the SSGNs present at Kings Bay, while Squadron 20 became in control of the SSBNs. Following the separation ceremony, the two squadrons also took on different focal point for their future planning and operations. For Squadron 16, this was to "focus on the emerging operation SSGN multi-mission capability and obuild on the excellence already established in strike warfare and special operations forces delivery and support, among many other missions while supporting SSBNs during and after overhaul periods." Squadron 16 is currently commanded by Captain William Patterson and includes two SSGNs and one SSBN: , , and .

References

{{reflist Submarine squadrons of the United States Navy