Photo By Chief Petty Officer Steve Owsley | 171115-N-SB201-001 GROTON, Conn. USS Pittsburgh (SSN 720), Commanding Officer Cmdr....... read more read more
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GROTON, Conn. (NNS)—For USS Pittsburgh (SSN 720), making submarine history is just another day in the ship’s long and storied tradition. On Nov. 15, USS Pittsburgh continued to add to history by completing its 1000th dive. The dive capped a busy underway period in which the ship completed Tactical Development Exercises, Submarine Command Course (SCC) and port visits to Port Canaveral, Fla. and Kings Bay, Ga.
During 32 years of commissioned service the ship has been a primary player in U.S. submarine history since its first dive in 1985. Pittsburgh was launch on Dec. 8, 1984 from Electric Boat with Capt. Raymond Setser in command. Pittsburgh remained homeported in Groton, Conn., where it has been a regular fixture on the waterfront since the 1980s.
Pittsburgh, the fourth U.S. Navy ship to be named in honor of the city of Pittsburgh, has conducted more than 15 deployments to various
theaters in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean. Pittsburgh has made port calls all over the world including Souda Bay, Gibraltar and Tunisia in the Mediterranean, Bahrain, and Jebel Ali in the Middle East, Panama, Western and Northern Africa, and multiple trips to Scotland, France, Spain and Norway. These port visits were essential to developing and maintaining strong relations with overseas partners.
The ship has a distinguished combat history. Pittsburgh was the first U.S. submarine to launch wartime Tomahawk Cruise missiles as part of Operation Desert Storm in 1991, followed by a second strike in 2002 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
With the busy schedule and operations, the crew hasn’t lost sight of the 1000th dive milestone. Ship’s Diving Officer Lt. Mike Wissehr reflected upon the great engineering feat the ship completed and closely tracked the progress as the ship inched toward the milestone. “Its great to be part of such a historical event and to celebrate the dives through the ship’s history.”
The crew is memorializing the event with a special 1000th dive T-Shirt designed by the ship’s artist Machinist Mate (Nuclear) 1st Class Ashton Gomez and certificates commemorating the event.
Gomez said it was a lot of fun to be part of the celebration with the design, which has unique callouts to Adm. Hyman Rickover, Uncle Sam, and the city of Pittsburgh.
“Speaking for the crew I can say it’s a tremendous honor to be part of this milestone, it makes you reflect on all the great places in the world the ship has submerged including the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans…Pittsburgh is a true veteran of the Seven Seas!” said USS Pittsburgh’s 14th Commanding Officer , Cmdr. Neil Colston.
Pittsburgh is far from done, even after reaching the historic 1,000 dive milestone. The submarine and crew are preparing for another operational deployment in the coming months, where they will make more dives and more history.
| Date Taken: | 11.15.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 12.07.2017 14:49 |
| Story ID: | 257822 |
| Location: | FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 2,793 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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