28 Mar 1981 – USS BREMERTON (SSN 698) – Commissioned
USS Bremerton (SSN-698), a Los Angeles-class submarine, is the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Bremerton, Washington. 
The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 24 January 1972 and her keel was laid down on 8 May 1976. She was launched on 22 July 1978 sponsored by Mrs. Henry M. Jackson, and commissioned on 28 March 1981 with Captain Thomas H. Anderson in command.

On March 11, 1999, USS DAVID R. RAY (DD 971), along with USS BREMERTON, was tasked by the Navy with sinking the commercial tanker NEW CARISSA at the request of a unified command made up of local, state and federal officials concerned about the environment. The NEW CARISSA had been spilling oil since it shipwrecked near Coos Bay, OR, on February 4. It was then towed for three days to the open ocean for sinking. This effort was the unified command’s second attempt to dispose of the 6,000-ton hulk, which had broken free from another tow a week earlier, only to return ashore along the central Oregon coast. 

An estimated 130,000 gallons of thick crude oil remained in the ship’s fuel tanks after Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11, from Whidbey Island, WA, torched more than half of the hazardous material February 10. DAVID R. RAY gunners prepared point-detonating 5-inch, 54-caliber projectiles for firing into NEW CARISSA to facilitate flooding. The destroyer’s gunners then pumped 69 rounds into NEW CARISSA’s bellowing hull. As intended, the resulting punctures allowed trapped air to ventilate. Strategically placed shots along the waterline caused the desired stern-first submersion that achieved the intended outcome. BREMERTON was then called upon to fire one Mk-48 advanced capability torpedo, sinking NEW CARISSA.

After a successful Western Pacific deployment, in September 2003 Bremerton changed its homeport to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Bremerton spent two months in drydock at Pearl Harbor ending 21 January 2010.

In January 2011, Bremerton was adopted by its namesake city, along with a partnership of community members and organizations led by the Bremerton-Olympic Peninsula Council of the US Navy League. In February 2015, Bremerton visited the City of Bremerton.

On 15 June 2016 the 35-year-old submarine completed her 15th deployment. Although originally scheduled for decommissioning in 2017, USS Bremerton’s life was extended for an unspecified period. On 20 July 17, she became the longest-commissioned U.S. Navy submarine, at the time, surpassing USS Kamehameha (SSBN-642). On 6 April 2018, she returned to Pearl Harbor from her final deployment.’

Passing the cribbage board
When USS Los Angeles was decommissioned on 23 January 2010, Bremerton became the oldest commissioned submarine in the US fleet. On that day, Richard O’Kane’s cribbage board was transferred from Los Angeles to Bremerton, a tradition that dates back to World War II. When Bremerton was inactived in 2018, the cribbage board was transferred from Bremerton to USS Olympia (SSN-717).

Decommissioning
Bremerton had her decommissioning ceremony 18 May 2021, at the U.S. Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, Washington, though the actual decommissioning will occur later this year. Due to COVID restrictions, crewmembers were not allowed to attend the event in person, but SUBGRU 9 streamed the event live globally via Facebook Live and YouTube.[15] Bremerton was officially decommissioned 21 May 2021