Posted on: Monday, October 7, 2002
'Kamfish' submarine parts saved for Hawai'i
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
USS Kamehameha, the 30th of the "41 for Freedom" ballistic missile submarines built as a Cold War deterrent and the first to receive a Hawaiian name, was decommissioned on April 2 and cut up for scrap.
But the "boomer" named for the great warrior and king resides in Hawai'i in more than just spirit.
The sub's sail and topside rudder are back at Pearl Harbor, and the sub base also has a bust of Kamehameha, a koa plate, bowl and spear, and a monkeypod wood table from the ship's wardroom.
The Navy is making plans for the sail and topside rudder to be displayed, and a decision could be made on the five smaller pieces in the next couple of months.
"I feel great (that the items were saved), because for years I've thought about the Kamehameha," said Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee Don Cataluna. "I never thought it would be decommissioned so fast and cut up so soon."
Cataluna wrote to Sen. Dan Inouye, D-Hawai'i, last March as part of a grassroots effort to have the 425-foot submarine returned to Hawai'i as a monument.
But because Kamehameha was nuclear-powered, and the disposal of its reactor core required a large section of the submarine to be removed in Bremerton, Wash., it was not considered for the Navy's ship donation program.
Cataluna said it was Hawai'i Congresswoman Patsy Mink who led the legislative charge to save the sub, and is perhaps most responsible for the return of the items that were saved for Hawai'i.
"She really got on the ball," Cataluna said.
"As the Navy considers proposals for the development of Ford Island, I write to respectfully request that a monument to the USS Kamehameha be included in the plans for Ford Island," Mink said in a May 1 letter to Navy Region Hawai'i commander Rear Adm. Robert T. Conway Jr.
Mink also said preserving the sub at Ford Island "would recognize and pay tribute to a great Hawaiian leader and a submarine with a distinguished history."
The Navy wrote back to Mink saying that the recycling process already had started and that the submarine had been mostly dismantled, but that Naval Sea Systems Command made arrangements with Submarine Forces Pacific to save the sail, rudder and other items.
Sub base spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Kelly Merrell said there are no firm plans or schedule to display the 25-foot-tall sail, which was returned to Pearl Harbor in July minus its periscopes and antennas. The topside rudder is the upper portion that appears above water when the submarine is surfaced, Merrell said.
It was Inouye who suggested the submarine's name to President Kennedy in 1963. Launched in 1965 and packing 16 Polaris missiles, the "Kamfish" holds the record for the longest service life of a nuclear submarine at nearly 37 years.
The Kamehameha went on 63 "deterrence" patrols before the Navy converted it in 1992 to deploy special forces.
The Navy said 89 items from the Kamehameha remain with the Naval Historical Center at the Washington Navy Yard, and an "appropriate display venue" is being sought for the five smaller ship items at Pearl Harbor.
Norman Cary, head of the curator branch of the center, said a Navy unit and a private museum on O'ahu have expressed interest in obtaining the items.
"In order to ensure that these culturally significant items are most appropriately displayed and cared for and preserved, we plan to contact two other museums (in Hawai'i) in the near future to determine their interest in these items," Cary said in an e-mail.
The center said it would not reveal the names of the organizations to avoid "undue pressure and politization of the issue," and all interested groups will have to submit requests for long-term loan of the items. Cary said a decision could be made in a couple of months.
The Navy has two other submarines with Hawai'i names — the USS Honolulu, and the USS Hawai'i, which is not yet in service.
Reach William Cole at 525-5459 or wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.
