(Newsradio 1020 KDKA) - The U.S. Navy’s USS Pittsburgh submarine is being decommissioned.
The sub’s final trip took it from Connecticut under the Arctic ice to its final home in Washington State.
Pittsburgh completed their most recent deployment in February under the watch of Commander Jason Deichler, a Pittsburgh native who oversaw the sub as it traveled 39,000 nautical miles, nearly 2 full trips around the world at the equator!
“All I heard from the crew during the transit was ‘this is the last’,” said Deichler. “This is the last meal; this is the last time we are going to eat Pittsburgh steak on Pittsburgh; this is the last turn; this is the last shut down. So the pride that they have in the ship is amazing, the best I have ever seen on any ship I have ever served.”
A news release states the USS Pittsburgh was a fast attack submarine that “is designed to excel in anti-submarine warfare; anti-ship warfare; strike warfare; special operations; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; irregular warfare; and mine warfare - from open ocean anti-submarine warfare to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, to projecting power ashore with Special Operation Forces and Tomahawk cruise missiles in the prevention or preparation of regional crises.”
The USS Pittsburgh was commissioned in November 1985 and is the fourth U.S. Navy Ship to be named after the Steel City.
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