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| Built: Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton,
Washington
Keel Laid: January 7, 1963 Launched: February 8, 1964 Sponsors: Mrs. Herbert Diamond and Mrs. Cecil Ford Commissioned: November 7, 1964, Captain James B. Osborn in command Length: 642 feet Beam: 85 feet Displacement: 20,515 tons Power Plant: Two boilers, geared turbines, one shaft, 20,000 shaft horsepower Speed: 20 knots Crew: 66 officers, 1,352 enlisted Armament: Four 20mm guns; Two 40mm guns; two .50 caliber machine guns; two twin 3"-50 gun mounts located port and starboard of the rear stack, just forward of the helo deck Misc: The ship had storage tubes for 16 Submarine-launched Ballistic Missiles Decommissioned: June 25, 1999 in Norfolk, Virginia |
| USS Simon Lake is named after Simon Lake, a distinguished marine engineer who played a major part in the development of the submarine as a practical device. In 1886-1887, he built the Argonaut, the first submarine to operate successfully in the open sea. A successful voyage which he made in his vessel from Norfolk, Virginia to New York City in 1898 (both submerged and surfaced) drew from Jules Verne in 1899 a prediction that submarines would become an important factor in the next war. Simon Lake developed his submarine torpedo boats, but he also predicted that submarines would be used for commercial purposes, such as locating sunken ships, navigating Northern waters, and making the passage above Russia from England to the Pacific. Simon Lake died on June 23, 1945, after being able to see what submarine forces could accomplish in full-scale war. |
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| After commissioning, Simon Lake sailed from Bremerton
on January 16, 1965 for Pearl Harbor on her shakedown cruise and returned
to Bremerton on February 17 for a six-week yard availability period.
She stood out of Bremerton on April 16, 1965 and proceeded to Charleston,
South Carolina, via the Panama Canal. Simon Lake arrived at Charleston
on May 1, 1965 to tend the submarines there.
In July 1966, she sailed for Holy Loch, Scotland, where she relieved USS Hunley (AS-31). Simon Lake served in Holy Loch for nearly four years, departing for Bremerton in May 1970. That July, the ship completed her first overhaul which lasted until March 1971. Simon Lake returned to Charleston in April 1971 and served there until she relieved USS Holland (AS-32) in Rota, Spain in December 1972. In January 1977, the ship got underway for Charleston to undergo a complex overhaul. Following her overhaul she relieved USS Hunley (AS-31) as the resident tender in Charleston. In July 1979, Simon Lake relocated to King’s Bay, Georgia where she became the first tender at the newly established refit site there. Her outstanding repair work resulted in her receiving the 1982, 1984, and 1985 Battle Efficiency “E” awards. In August 1985, she conducted a homeport change to Pascagoula, Mississippi to conduct an overhaul. After the overhaul, she returned to Charleston in October 1986 where she completed routine upkeeps until May 1987. In May 1987, she again relieved USS Hunley (AS-31) in Holy Loch, Scotland. She received the 1988 and 1991 Battle Efficiency “E” awards and was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation in 1992. While homeported in Holy Loch, she steamed an average of 350 days a year. In March 1992 (after being the last tender in Holy Loch), Simon Lake returned to Norfolk to conduct an extensive overhaul. After completion of the overhaul in March 1993, she departed for her new homeport of La Maddalena, Italy where she turned over with USS Orion (AS-18). For superior service to the fleet, she received both the Battle Efficiency “E” and Meritorious Unit Commendation awards for the period July 7, 1993-August 31, 1994 (according to OPNAV NOTE 1650 of March 9, 2001). In March 1998, the ship transited the Suez Canel enroute to the United Arab Emirates where she supported Operation Southern Watch in the Arabian Gulf. Her outstanding performance during 47 availabilities led to her receiving the Navy Unit Commendation and Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. In June 1998, she returned to La Maddalena, Italy. Simon Lake’s performance during her last two years of service was particularly noteworthy. Not only did she receive the awards associated with the Arabian Gulf but she was nominated for the SECDEF maintenance award, received the 1997 and 1998 Battle Efficiency “Es,” the 1998 CNO Safety Award, the 1998 Golden Anchor award, and she became the first surface ship to receive both the Enlisted Surface Warfare and the Surface Warfare Officer pennants. After being relieved by USS Emory S. Land (AS-39), Simon Lake departed La Maddalena on May 11, 1999 and crossed the Atlantic for Norfolk, Virginia to be decommissioned. During her 36 years of dedicated service, Simon Lake provided all aspect of logistical and repair support for an average of 45 submarine and surface ship availabilities, consisting of over 5,000 vital repair jobs, annually. Serving over 20 years as a forward-deployed tender, she served as an ambassador for the United States, showing the flag and entertaining foreign dignitaries during nearly 100 port visits in foreign countries. |
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| RADM James B. Osborn: 7 Nov 64-15 Jun 66 | CAPT John H. Williams, Jr: 2 Oct 81-8 Jul 83 |
| RADM George F. Ellis, Jr.: 15 Jun 66-13 Jul 68 | CAPT Gerald E. Egan: 8 Jul 83-17 Aug 85 |
| CAPT Robert A. Maxwell: 13 Jul 68-28 Apr 70 | CAPT James R. Lynch: 17 Aug 85-10 Jan 87 |
| RADM William A. Williams III: 28 Apr 70-13 Nov 71 | CAPT Richard I. Itkin: 10 Jan 87-22 Feb 89 |
| RADM James S. Murray, Jr.: 13 Nov 71-30 Jan 74 | CAPT Gary M. Crahan: 22 Feb 89-8 Mar 91 |
| CAPT Sanford N. Levey: 30 Jan 74-15 Feb 75 | CAPT William J. Riffer: 8 Mar 91-21 Jul 93 |
| CAPT Richard A. Peterson: 15 Feb 75-7 Jan 77 | CAPT David K. Mousette: 21 Jul 93-11 Aug 95 |
| CAPT Alfred P. Amoruos: 7 Jan 77-19 Jan 79 | CAPT Eugene K. Wilson: 11 Aug 95-12 Jul 97 |
| CAPT Percy M. Beard: 19 Jan 79-2 Oct 81 | CAPT David A. Duffie: 12 Jul 97-25 Jun 99 |
| I reported aboard Simon Lake as a Machinist's Mate First Class on June 8, 1966, after being tranferred from USS Thomas A. Edison (SSBN-610 Blue). As an ELT, I was assigned to the Radiological Controls (R-5) Division. On July 11, 1966, Simon Lake sailed for Holy Loch, Scotland (click on link below), where she relieved USS Hunley (AS-31) as submarine tender for Submarine Squadron (SUBRON) 14. (Note: Simon Lake had a squash court on the Flying Bridge level when we got to Holy Loch because the CO liked to play squash.) Simon Lake's purpose in Holy Loch was to service U.S. Navy nuclear-powered, ballistic missile-firing submarines. |
| R-5 Division performed the following functions: Received radioactive waste from the subs and took care of transferring it to the States, received radioactive water from the subs during reactor startups via "goosenecks" we rigged to the coolant discharge connections on the subs with the aid of the tender's divers and crane operators, ran the control points at the entrance to the reactor compartments when tender personnel were involved in maintenance in a reactor compartment, set up containment areas and shielding around any work that was done on reactor systems, calibrated the RADIAC instruments from the subs, provided demineralized water to the subs, provided the subs with Grade A and Oxygen Clean component cleaning service, and collected mud samples from the bottom of the Holy Loch for shipment back to the States for analysis to see if the loch was contaminated. Once every three months or so we would put to sea to go outside the 12-mile limit to get rid of the water we had received from the boats. Before dumping it, we ran it through huge filters and ion exchangers to bring the level of the water down to drinking water limits. |
| Besides working in the radiological controls side of R-5 Division, not long after I reported aboard I was assigned as the Leading Petty Officer to a new ON-BOARD CHEMISTRY LABORATORY being built on the ship. I was transferred from Simon Lake on February 15, 1969. |
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(Between commissioning and decommissioning) |
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| James was a TMC in Charge of the Handling Shop and while on Simon Lake. He made WO1 and took over the Torpedo shop (W-1 Division). He left Simon Lake while in Charleston, SC after a yard period at Bremerton Naval Shipyard. |
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| The purpose of this page is provide a place for ex-crew members to post a query about or an attempt to locate a lost shipmate. Or to just let ex-shipmates know you're still around. Send your queries, etc. to me via e-mail at my e-mail address at the bottom of this page and I'll place them on the page with a link to your e-mail address. Good luck in your search. |
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| Holy Loch, Scotland Pages Info about and photos of |
| Tender Tales Unofficial homeport of submarine tenders of the U.S. Navy |
| Submarinesailor.com Rosters for subs, sub tenders, and ASRs. Other sub-related info, as well |
| Fleet Reserve Association The hardest-charging military lobby group there is (especially for enlisted-related matters) |
| National Chief Petty Officers Association (NCPOA) I’m a member |
| The Retired Enlisted Association (TREA) I’m a member |
| U.S. Navy Memorial Every Navy veteran should have his particulars in the Navy Log (it's accessible on-line) |
| Bluejacket.com Informative site on USN, USMC, USCG history and traditions |
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