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USS Drum (SSN 677)

USS DRUM was one of the STURGEON - class attack submarines and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name. Both decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on October 30, 1995, the DRUM was subsequently laid up at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., awaiting her turn in the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program there. Recycling was completed 2011/12. Her sail was removed for display and is publicly associated with Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS DRUM. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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• Click here to see which USS DRUM memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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USS DRUM History:

USS DRUM was the second United States Navy ship to bear the name Drum. The name referred to fishes of the family Sciaenidae and also connected the submarine to the earlier fleet submarine USS DRUM (SS 228), which had served during World War II. The contract for the nuclear-powered USS DRUM was awarded to Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Vallejo, California, on March 15, 1967. Her keel was laid down there on August 20, 1968. She was launched on May 23, 1970, sponsored by Mrs. William F. Bringle, wife of Admiral William F. Bringle, then Commander, Naval Air Force, Pacific. Commander James L. Willis assumed command of Pre-Commissioning Unit DRUM on July 1, 1970, beginning the work of organizing the crew, training the pre-commissioning detail, preparing the submarine for trials, and bringing a new nuclear-powered attack submarine toward active service.

USS DRUM departed Mare Island Naval Shipyard for sea trials on January 17, 1972, under the supervision of Admiral Hyman G. Rickover. She was delivered to the Navy on April 1, 1972, and commissioned at Mare Island Naval Shipyard on April 15, 1972, with Commander James L. Willis in command. Rear Admiral Maurice H. Rindskopf, who had served in the first USS DRUM and had commanded that submarine during two World War II patrols, was the principal speaker at the commissioning ceremony. USS DRUM was the forty-third and last submarine built by Mare Island Naval Shipyard, giving her a distinct place in the history of that shipyard.

After commissioning, USS DRUM conducted initial testing in Puget Sound. On May 22, 1972, she arrived at San Diego, California, which became her permanent operating home port except for temporary home port changes connected with major shipyard periods. During the next six months, she conducted operational tests and fleet training exercises in Puget Sound, in Hawaiian operating areas, and in the Southern California operating areas off San Diego. This first operating period was designed to bring the newly commissioned submarine from acceptance and commissioning into full operational status within the Pacific Submarine Force. In November 1972, after completing those initial tests and exercises, USS DRUM returned to Mare Island Naval Shipyard for a one-month post-shakedown availability. That yard period allowed the shipyard and crew to correct deficiencies, adjust equipment, and refine systems after the first months of fleet use.

Following post-shakedown work and additional operations in Southern California, USS DRUM deployed in March 1973 on her first Western Pacific deployment. It was the longest deployment of her career, lasting eight months. During this first deployment, she visited Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Yokosuka and Sasebo, Japan; Hong Kong; Subic Bay, Philippines; and Guam. She returned to San Diego in November 1973. Strategically, this first deployment placed USS DRUM into the forward Pacific submarine pattern of the Cold War. United States attack submarines in the western Pacific supported Seventh Fleet operations, monitored Soviet naval activity, trained in areas close to Japan, the Philippines, and Guam, and sustained American naval presence in a region where Cold War competition, alliance commitments, and the aftermath of the Vietnam War all shaped naval planning.

On July 10, 1974, Commander Donald C. Tarquin relieved Commander Willis as commanding officer. During the summer of 1974, USS DRUM operated in Puget Sound and at Nanoose, British Columbia, for Mark 48 torpedo trials. The Mark 48 heavyweight torpedo was central to American submarine combat capability, and testing at instrumented ranges such as Nanoose supported the development, validation, and refinement of submarine weapons performance. In the fall of 1974, USS DRUM prepared intensively for another Western Pacific deployment. She began her second deployment to the Western Pacific in November 1974, visiting Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Guam before returning in May 1975. USS DRUM received her first Navy Unit Commendation for this deployment.

In June 1976, USS DRUM departed San Diego for her third Western Pacific deployment. During this deployment she visited Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, and Guam. She returned from the deployment in November 1976 and received her first Meritorious Unit Commendation for the deployment. On November 19, 1976, Commander M. D. Bradley relieved Commander Tarquin as commanding officer.

The year 1977 opened with a major change in the ship's schedule. USS DRUM changed home port to Bremerton, Washington, and entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for Mark 48 torpedo impact testing and a non-refueling overhaul. The overhaul was completed in April 1978 ahead of schedule and under budget. After leaving the yard, USS DRUM spent several months conducting operations in Puget Sound, including visits to Seattle and Everett, Washington, and Esquimalt, British Columbia. She returned to San Diego in July 1978. From that return until April 1979, she completed the training, testing, and load-out required before her next deployment.

In May 1979, USS DRUM began her fourth Western Pacific deployment. This deployment included visits to Guam, Thailand, the Philippines, and Hawaii. She returned five months later, in October 1979, and received her second Meritorious Unit Commendation. The deployment took place during a period of growing tension across the wider Indo-Pacific and Indian Ocean region. The late 1970s saw continuing Cold War competition in East Asia, the strategic importance of Guam and the Philippines as American support locations, and rising concern over the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf after the Iranian Revolution.

In March 1980, USS DRUM returned to Mare Island Naval Shipyard for a two-month shipyard restricted availability. In May 1980, after her return to San Diego, Commander Michael F. Oliver relieved Commander Bradley as commanding officer. USS DRUM then conducted several months of local operations in the Southern California operating areas before deploying west again in October 1980. This deployment included visits to Guam and the Philippines and lasted until mid-April 1981.

In November 1981, USS DRUM again departed San Diego for the Western Pacific. During this deployment, she visited Korea and spent Christmas in Japan before returning home at the beginning of 1982. After that return, she continued operations in the Southern California operating areas, visited San Francisco, and began her second selected restricted availability in San Diego during the summer of 1982. After completing that shipyard restricted availability, USS DRUM spent the end of 1982 preparing for another Western Pacific and Indian Ocean deployment.

Shortly after Christmas 1982, USS DRUM deployed to the Western Pacific on a cruise that included operations in the Indian Ocean. During this deployment, she visited the Philippines, Australia, Diego Garcia, and Japan. She returned to San Diego in June 1983. The Indian Ocean portion of this deployment belonged to a wider strategic context in which the United States Navy was increasingly focused on Persian Gulf access, sea lines of communication, Soviet activity in the Indian Ocean, and the regional consequences of the Iranian Revolution, the Iran-Iraq War, and the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Diego Garcia, which USS DRUM visited during this deployment, had become an important support point for American operations in the Indian Ocean. On August 12, 1983, Commander Harold L. Cox relieved Commander Oliver as commanding officer. After the post-deployment stand-down, USS DRUM participated in Advanced Capability Mark 48 torpedo testing exercises at the Nanoose tracking range in British Columbia.

In May 1984, USS DRUM left San Diego for another Western Pacific deployment. She stopped in Hawaii for the 1984 Rim of the Pacific exercise, a multinational naval exercise, and then continued west. Her port visits during the deployment included the Philippines, Japan, Guam, and Thailand. The exercise placed her in a large Pacific training environment involving multiple navies and a broad range of anti-submarine, surface, air, and fleet-integration activity. USS DRUM returned to San Diego in November 1984.

The year 1985 began with local operations in the Southern California operating areas and operations in Puget Sound, including a port visit to Esquimalt, British Columbia. In October 1985, USS DRUM changed home port to Bremerton for the second time and entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for her second and final overhaul, a refueling overhaul. On April 18, 1986, Commander Donald L. Winchell, Jr., relieved Commander Cox as commanding officer. The refueling overhaul was completed in November 1987, after which USS DRUM returned to San Diego and joined Submarine Squadron Eleven. This overhaul was one of the most important technical periods of her service life, restoring and renewing the submarine for continued operations after more than a decade of Pacific Fleet service.

USS DRUM spent most of 1988 in local operations and preparation for deployment. After nine months of preparations and inspections following the refueling overhaul, she left San Diego for two months of independent operations. For those operations she received her third Meritorious Unit Commendation. On February 21, 1989, Commander Bruce B. Engelhardt relieved Commander Winchell as commanding officer. In mid-May 1989, USS DRUM departed on her tenth trip to the Western Pacific. That deployment included visits to Lahaina, Hawaii; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and Japan. She received her second Navy Unit Commendation for this deployment. USS DRUM returned to San Diego in August 1989 and spent the remainder of the year operating in Southern California waters.

The year 1990 began with a selected restricted availability, completed in early March. On April 1, 1990, USS DRUM changed administrative commanders to Commander, Submarine Squadron Three. During the spring, she participated in the 1990 Rim of the Pacific exercise, which included a port call at Lahaina, Maui. After summer preparations, she departed San Diego in September 1990 for another Western Pacific deployment, making port visits to Guam and Japan. She received her fourth Meritorious Unit Commendation for operations conducted during this deployment. While she was deployed, her crew was awarded the Battle Efficiency "E" for Submarine Squadron Three for fiscal year 1990. USS DRUM returned to San Diego in March 1991.

In August 1991, USS DRUM commenced independent operations and returned in late September. In October 1991, she participated in San Francisco Fleet Week '91. For fiscal year 1991, she received the Battle Efficiency "E" for Submarine Squadron Three for the second consecutive year. On November 22, 1991, Commander Wayne A. Thornton relieved Commander Engelhardt as commanding officer. This period came at the end of the Cold War. The Soviet Union was collapsing, the Pacific Fleet was beginning to adapt to a changed strategic environment, and older STURGEON-class submarines were still in active use while the Navy reassessed force structure and missions.

In February 1992, USS DRUM departed on another Western Pacific deployment. Her port visits included Pearl Harbor, Japan, Guam, Singapore, and Australia. During the deployment, she completed a 680-nautical-mile transit of the inner passage of the Great Barrier Reef, later described in her command history as the longest piloting party in the recent history of the submarine force. She received her fifth Meritorious Unit Commendation during this deployment and returned to San Diego in August 1992. After her return, USS DRUM hosted what her ship history describes as the first tour of a United States nuclear submarine by senior Russian naval officers and dignitaries. That event reflected the changed atmosphere after the end of the Cold War, when limited naval contacts between the former Cold War rivals became possible in ways that would have been difficult during the earlier decades of her service.

USS DRUM departed San Diego on her next Western Pacific deployment two days after Christmas 1993, on December 27, 1993. During this deployment, she visited Guam, Japan, and New Caledonia. On August 8, 1994, Commander Steven C. Hall relieved Commander Thornton as commanding officer and became USS DRUM's ninth commanding officer. During her final year of active fleet service, USS DRUM participated in San Francisco Fleet Week '94 and made a port visit to Astoria, Oregon. These late-career public visits occurred at a time when the Navy was drawing down older Cold War submarines while still using them for operational deployments, training, and public engagement.

On February 13, 1995, USS DRUM departed San Diego for her thirteenth Western Pacific deployment, which was also her final Western Pacific deployment. The deployment included a visit to Guam. On March 16, 1995, USS DRUM was involved in a collision in heavy fog in Hong Kong harbor with the motor vessel SEA BRITE. Contemporary reporting and later summaries agree that no injuries were reported. USS DRUM's final Western Pacific deployment ended when she returned to San Diego on April 13, 1995. On April 27, 1995, Commander Mitchell K. Sauls became her tenth and final commanding officer.

On May 20, 1995, USS DRUM was inactivated at a ceremony in San Diego attended by dignitaries and former crew members. Admiral Henry G. Chiles, Jr., Commander in Chief, United States Strategic Command, and the submarine's first executive officer, was the keynote speaker. At the end of the ceremony, the commissioning pennant was hauled down and the watch was secured. In May 1995, USS DRUM was transferred to Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard to begin inactivation work. She was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on October 30, 1995.

After decommissioning, ex-USS DRUM entered the disposal process associated with the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program. In fiscal year 1997, Congress authorized transfer of the vessel to Vallejo at no cost to the government if preservation conditions could be met, and the Mare Island Park Foundation pursued the idea of returning the submarine to Vallejo as a museum ship. That effort did not result in preservation of the hull. After her post-decommissioning inactivation work, ex-USS DRUM was held at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, awaiting and then undergoing recycling. A Navy historic-preservation evaluation completed in 2011 recorded that the vessel had been 82 percent dismantled when the determination was prepared. Her sail was removed for display and is publicly associated with Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois.

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USS DRUM Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by me and shows the DRUM laid-up at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash. on March 14, 2010.

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