USS Kamehameha
(SSN-642) Official Web Site
Special
Guests
USS Kamehameha started off her life as PCU Kamehameha. PCU
stands for Precommissioning Unit, meaning that the ship is not yet
accepted by the Navy for her warfighting mission. Launching the ship
means among other things that the ship is christened, or named, by
her sponsor. Our sponsor was Mrs. Samuel Wilder King, wife of a Navy
veteran of both world wars and the first Hawaiian-American governor
of Hawaii (1953-1957).
The Commander, Submarine Force Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC) at the time
of the launching was RADM Gene Fluckey, shown below at left. RADM
Fluckey was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his daring
WWII attack on a Japanese convoy in very shallow water off the China
coast in USS BARB. RADM Fluckey, incidentally, directed the only
American invasion of the Japanese mainland during World War II by
launching men from his submarine in a life raft . The submariners in
the raft reached land and blew up a troop train. Launching forces
from a submarine is now one of USS Kamehameha's primary missions.
Go to the previous flyer.
Continue to a a painting of the ship.
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