USS Hunley ( AS - 31 ) USS " Hunley " ( AS - 31 ) was a submarine tender of the United States Navy launched on 28 September 1961 and commissioned 16 June 1962 . The " Hunley " was designed to tend most of the long - term requirements of the Polaris Class of submarines . The ship achieved several records and milestones in its long service . The " Hunley " was decommissioned from the regular navy , in 1995 transferred to the US Maritime Commission , and in 2007 sold as scrap to a metal recycling company in Louisiana . In September 2008 , during Hurricane Gustav , the decommissioned ship broke free of its moorings in the New Orleans Inner Harbor , but caused little or no damage while adrift . Design and Construction . " Hunley " had the distinction of being the first ship designed and built from the keel up to service and maintain the U . S . Navy ' s nuclear - powered Ballistic Missile Submarine Fleet . She had complete facilities for servicing the complex Polaris Weapons Systems and for accomplishing any submarine repair other than a major shipyard overhaul . The hull was laid down in by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company , Newport News , Virginia and sponsored by Mrs . J . Palmer Gaillard , wife of the Mayor of Charleston , South Carolina . The ship was named in honor of Horace Lawson Hunley , the designer of the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel in naval history , the Confederate submarine H . L . Hunley . Career . With Captain Douglas N . Syverson in command , " Hunley " sailed 25 July 1962 for shakedown training off Cuba until 6 September 1962 . She visited several Gulf and Atlantic ports and returned to Norfolk 28 September for post - shakedown alterations until 8 December 1962 . After which the " Hunley " paid a 3 - day visit to New York City to host the Naval Reserve Officers Seminar " New Ships for the Modern Navy " . She departed from the Norfolk Operating Base 29 December 1962 for Holy Loch , Scotland , arriving 9 January 1963 . Almost immediately she began taking the load off USS " Proteus " , whom she officially relieved 15 March 1963 as tender to Submarine Squadron 14 at Holy Loch . This duty continued until 12 April 1964 when " Hunley " sailed for conversion that provided capability of handling the new A3 Polaris Missile . She resumed her duties at Holy Loch on 15 June 1964 . A Polaris milestone was reached in December 1965 when USS " Thomas A . Edison " came alongside to commence the 100th refit of a nuclear ballistic submarine ( SSBN ) by the " Hunley " . This signified that one hundred SSBN submarines had gone out on time from " Hunley " and not one of them had to make an early return from patrol . This represented some 200 months of Polaris on station or 16½ years of submerged strategic deterrent since " Hunley ' s " arrival in Holy Loch 9 January 1963 . " Hunley ' s " motto was " We Serve to Preserve Peace " . " Hunley " returned to the United States late in 1966 and in 1967 operated out of Charleston , South Carolina . " Hunley " was decommissioned on 30 September 1994 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 3 May 1995 and turned over to the Maritime Commission on 1 May 1999 . " Hunley " was subsequently sold to the Southern Scrap Materials Company on 5 January 2007 for scrapping . Advanced capabilities . Among jobs carried out by " Hunley " was welding on SSBN pressure hulls or reactor plant fluid systems . Once unheard of in submarine tending , these jobs were only a few of many carried out by " Hunley ' s " crew . These and many other alterations were carried out as a matter of routine to keep SSBN ' s on the line with the newest possible technical improvements and safety devices . For example , an auxiliary " Sub - Safe " package was accomplished on the USS " Theodore Roosevelt " in which over 40 fittings and more than 100 feet of new piping in a major system were installed . A battery replacement for the USS " Ethan Allen " was completed in only 11 days . " Hunley " met demands from making water - borne propeller replacements to encapsulation of AC induction motors ; delicate repairs to navigation and fire control , and many other varied tasks to ensure that each SSBN had the finest of care on each refit . Stowaway incident . After a 1973 port call in Sydney , en route to Pearl Harbor , two teenage girls from New Zealand were found hiding out in one of the " Hunley ' s " missile crane control cabs , when a sailor was spotted carrying food up the ladder to the crane . " Hunley " was diverted to Brisbane to offload the stowaway s , and the " helpful " sailors were disciplined .