Earlier this year, the USS Honolulu bid a final aloha to its namesake city when the submarine left Pearl Harbor to deactivate at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. It was the third ship named after the Islands’ capital. See how the name has sailed through history.
By Noelle Chun
The second USS Honolulu was a light cruiser. photo: courtesy of the Navy Historical Center
The SS Honolulu was a cargo ship built in 1905, in Newcastle, England. The ship was previously named Sestos and Itasca. When the United States Shipping Board claimed the boat in 1917, it was rechristened SS Honolulu. It served the U.S. Navy during World War I until 1919. The following year, the ship was sold and renamed Commercial Trader.
Built in the New York Navy Yard, USS Honolulu was a light cruiser that served the Navy from 1938 to 1939. Its early years saw action in England, the Atlantic and Caribbean. In 1939, it was transferred to Pearl Harbor, where it was damaged in the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack and, after repairs, left to fight in World War II. Honolulu was sold for scrap in 1959.
Built in 1983, USS Honolulu is the 97th nuclear-powered submarine and the 31st submarine of its class. After deactivation, the vessel’s nose will be transplanted to the USS San Francisco, which was damaged in a collision with an underwater mountain.