USS Minneapolis-St. Paul Inactivated

USS Minneapolis-St. Paul (SSN 708) was inactivated today in a ceremony in Norfolk. Eleven Twelve of the boat's 12 13 COs were there:

It's always a bittersweet moment when a boat ends her active service. For those of us, like me, who know that ships have "souls" (made up of all the blood, sweat, and tears of the men who have served on her) it's nice to know that a boat that has served honorably and well can get some well-deserved rest.

Update 2156 24 June: Corrected to update the number of COs present; I had fallen for the classic blunder of believing the Navy NewsStand text that said 11 of 12 former COs were there, and assumed those were in addition to the current one.

Also, the MSP Family Support Group has a photo website that includes pictures the families took of the inactivation ceremony; here's one of them:

The other family photos of the inactivation ceremony are here.

posted by Bubblehead @ 10:05 PM