The fast-attack submarine USS Alexandria came pier-side at Naval Base Point Loma Thursday to music from Navy jazz band and cheers from the throngs of family and friends waiting to greet its crew.
After seven months in the western Pacific, the crew was happy to be home, said Cmdr. Christopher Rose, the ship's commanding officer.
"It feels great to be back home," Rose said after stepping ashore. "I couldn't be more proud of the crew. We're proud of everything the guys went through for the last seven months. And, again — just a great reunion today."
There are about 140 sailors assigned to the Alexandria.
Rose said submarine crews don't have the same access to communication that surface ship sailors do, which makes the work especially challenging.
"I think what people don't realize about the submarine force is (when) we go out, we are completely isolated — we go months without emails to families," he said.
What exactly they've been doing for seven months isn't clear — the specifics of submarine missions are tightly-held by the Navy.
Captain Will Wiley is the commander of Submarine Squadron 11 at Naval Base Point Loma. He said they kept the sub busy.
"We just had a lot for the USS Alexandria to do," Wiley said. "So, we kept them underway out there maintaining the presence in the western Pacific."
Rose did what he could to explain.
"What we were doing out there day in and day out is making sure that the sea lanes remain open — that U.S. goods, that our allies goods — are able to move through the western Pacific," he said. (We were) just providing a presence ... some people know we're out and some people don't."
Alexandria is one of four Los Angeles-class attack submarines based in San Diego. The nuclear-powered subs are among the oldest in the fleet. They’re slowly being replaced by newer, more versatile Virginia-class.
Rose said this class of submarine still has an important job to do.
"They're still the backbone of our submarine force, and they are still out there like Alexandria was — executing missions that matter, every single day," Rose said. "And there's really nobody that matches us."
Coming home after being away so long can be challenging, Rose said, and the crew undergoes reintegration training before pulling in. For him, he said he was ready to get back to his family.
"I have a baseball game for my 10-year-old at 5:00 tonight," he said. "So I think that's the first thing I'm doing is going to watch a Little League baseball game."
