USS Tunny (SSN-682)

USS "Tunny" (SSN-682), a sclass|Sturgeon|submarine, was the second submarine of the United States Navy to be named for the little tunny (tuna).

Her keel was laid down on 22 May 1970 at Pascagoula, Mississippi, by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries. She was launched on 10 June 1972 sponsored by Mrs. Lola Aiken, and commissioned on 26 January 1974 at Charleston, South Carolina, with Commander Dennis Y. Sloan in command.

"Tunny" remained at Charleston, her home port, until March when she moved to Groton, Connecticut, for two weeks of in-port training at the submarine base. Between March and June, she conducted shakedown training in the West Indies and along the East Coast. From June to August, the nuclear-powered submarine conducted normal operations out of Charleston before heading north to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard where she began post-shakedown overhaul on 12 August. The warship completed repairs on 5 October and headed back to Charleston where she resumed normal training operations.

In February 1975, "Tunny" began preparations for her first deployment to the Mediterranean. She stood out of Charleston and headed across the Atlantic on 6 March and changed operational control to the Sixth Fleet ten days later. During the first part of her tour in the Mediterranean, the submarine operated with Task force (TF) 60 conducting antisubmarine (ASW) exercises with the other ships of the unit. Following refit and tender upkeep in June and early July at Santo Stefano (island), Sardinia, "Tunny" rejoined the Sixth Fleet as a unit of TF 69 and resumed ASW training. After participating in a major Sixth Fleet exercise late in July and early in August, the warship departed the Mediterranean for home. She changed operational control from Sixth Fleet to the Atlantic Fleet Submarine Force on 17 August and arrived in Charleston 12 days later. After post-deployment standdown in September and a shipyard availability at Charleston in October and November, she resumed operations—mostly type training—out of Charleston on 20 November.

Type training along the South Carolina and Florida coasts occupied her time during the first month of 1976. February brought inspections and examinations; and, in March, she participated in two special operations designed to help develop and evaluate submarine tactics. In May, "Tunny" began preparations for her second tour of duty with the Sixth Fleet but did not embark upon that assignment for over two months. In the meantime, she conducted one exercise—in naval mine warfare—in June. Finally, on 26 July, she sailed out of Charleston on her way to the Mediterranean. Following a visit to Lisbon, Portugal, the attack submarine joined the Sixth Fleet on 11 August. After a month of ASW training, highlighted by Exercise "National Week XXI", the warship put into Santo Stefano for a month of upkeep alongside submarine tender USS|Howard W. Gilmore|AS-16|2. In October, she returned to sea for ASW training operations punctuated periodically with a visit to Naples or upkeep at Santo Stefano. That routine continued until 11 December, when she departed Santo Stefano to return to the United States. Arriving in Charleston on 22 December, she commenced a combination of holiday leave and upkeep and post-deployment standdown.

January 1977 found "Tunny" undergoing an extensive upkeep following her Mediterranean deployment. She then resumed operations off the East Coast which extended through the spring and summer months. In mid-September, the attack submarine commenced a two-month Selected Restricted Availability (SRA) at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard which was concluded in late November, followed by a short sea trial period. Following refresher training at the Naval Submarine School, New London, "Tunny" returned to Charleston for the Christmas holidays.

"Tunny" spent January and part of February 1978 preparing for a North Atlantic deployment which commenced in late February and concluded in late April.

Change of home port

In July, "Tunny"'s home port was changed to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the ship transited through the Panama Canal Zone, and briefly crossed the equator while enroute to that port on 19 August. Tunny was assigned to Submarine Squadron One at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The remainder of the year was devoted to local operations in preparation for a forthcoming deployment to the western Pacific in 1979.

Tunny completed a six-month deployment to the Western Pacific, returning to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in June 1979. Tunny visited ports in the Western Pacific including, Yokosuka, Japan, Amphoe Sattahip, Thailand, Orote Point, Guam, and entered the Indian Ocean where it visited Diego Garcia, BIOT and was a guest of the Royal Australian Navy ported at HMAS|Stirling, near Fremantle, Australia. The Tunny crew participated in the ANZAC Day Parade in April 1979.:"17 more years of operational history goes here."

Deactivated while still in commission on 1 October 1997, "Tunny" was both decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 13 March 1998. She went through the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program from 1 October 1997 to 27 October 1998. On the latter date, ex-"Tunny" ceased to exist.