page_title: USS Aspro (SSN-648)
section_title: 1987–1994
hierarchical_section_title: USS Aspro (SSN-648) / Service history / 1987–1994
caption_attribution_description: English: This is my unit patch from the USS Aspro (SSN-648) while serving aboard her in 1993.
context_page_description: USS Aspro (SSN-648) was a Sturgeon-class submarine launched in 1969 and decommissioned in 1995. Scrapping was completed in 2000.
  It was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the aspro, a fish of the Zingel genus found abundantly in the upper Rhone River.
context_section_description: Aspro spent a significantly longer time at Mare Island Naval Shipyard than originally scheduled.  During her overhaul, new sonar and fire-control system technologies became available and were installed during the delay. The delay also allowed Aspro to have anechoic (acoustic) tiling installed on her hull, making her one of the quietest attack submarines in the United States Pacific Fleet.
  At the conclusion of her overhaul, Aspro and her crew scored an EXCELLENT on the Post-Overhaul Reactor Safeguards Examination (PORSE), a rare feat for any nuclear-powered ship.  She followed up this extraordinary achievement with outstanding performances on Tactical Readiness Examinations against much newer ships.
  Aspro returned to Pearl Harbor in October 1989.  As she rounded the bend into the submarine base, the other moored submarines, led by her sister ship USS Tautog (SSN-639), sounded their whistles for over four minutes, welcoming Aspro back to her home port.
  After her return, Aspro deployed twice to the Western Pacific and twice to the Northern Pacific.  She won the Battle Efficiency Award (Battle "E") for Submarine Squadron 1 three times in the next four years, twice under CDR J. A. "Andy" Borchardt and once under CDR J. M. "Mike" Willy.  ASPRO was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation for performance during a period in 1994 while deployed to the Western Pacific.  During her final WESTPAC cruise, she made port calls in Hong Kong, Guam, Sasebo Japan, and New Caledonia, with CDR Willy in command.  USS ASPRO had her decommissioning ceremony at Naval Base Pearl Harbor in early 1995 upon return from her final cruise, and completed the formal decommissioning process at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in 1995, with CDR Keith Sauls in command for the decommissioning process.
caption: USS Aspro's patch from around 1993.
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