USS Parche (SSN-683) Memorial (Bremerton, Washington)

 memorial, museum, navy, submarine

Laid down at Ingalls Pascagoula Yard in January 1973, the USS Parche commissioned into US Navy service in January 1974 as the 6th member of the 'Long Hull' Sturgeon Class Nuclear-Powered Attack Submarines. Assigned to the US Atlantic Fleet Submarine Force, the Parche began Cold War operations against her Soviet counterparts in the Atlantic, Arctic and Mediterranean through 1979 when she switched coasts and joined the US Pacific Fleet.

Shortly after joining the Pacific Fleet the Parche received the first of many modifications which would eventually turn her into a state-of-the-art intelligence gathering and surveillance platform, the most notable of which was the addition of a 100ft bow section during her 1987-1991 overhaul and refueling. The new bow section provided space to support a larger mission crew and equipment which included an extensive array of signals-intelligence-collecting antennas, electronic gear, and other navigational and ocean engineering equipment. The overhaul also added many auxiliary navigational and maneuvering features, including both upward and forward facing short-range sonars, and a suite of armored spotlights and closed-circuit television cameras.

So equipped, the Parche began operations in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans ranging from tapping Soviet subsea communication cables, gathering fragments from Soviet missile tests for reverse engineering and other clandestine activities which remain highly classified to this day. The importance of her missions and the value of the intelligence they returned can be easily identified by the amount of decorations bestowed upon the Parche and her crew for their efforts, as she was able to gain the coveted title of Most Decorated US Navy Ship from the venerable USS Enterprise (CV-6). By the time the Parche was deactivated and decommissioned from active service in October 2004, she had earned 9 Presidential Unit Citations, 10 Navy Unit Citations and 13 Navy Expeditionary Medals.

After her hull was scrapped and her reactor recycled here at Bremerton, the sail of the USS Parche was put on display at the Bremerton Marine Park where it serves as a memorial to the ship and her crews.


www.navsource.org/archives/08/08683.htm