USS Nereus ( AS - 17 ) USS " Nereus " ( AS - 17 ) was a in the United States Navy . According to Greek mythology , Nereus was the eldest son of Pontus and Gaia , and one of the manifestations of the Old Man of the Sea . " Nereus " was laid down on 12 October 1943 , at Mare Island Navy Yard , Vallejo , California ; launched 12 February 1945 ; sponsored by Mrs . A . M . Hurst ; and commissioned on 27 October 1945 , with Captain L . D . Follmer in command . Service history . 1945 – 1960 . After shakedown in the fall of 1945 , the new submarine tender departed 15 December for Japan by way of Pearl Harbor . Arriving Sasebo early in 1946 , she stripped 39 Japanese submarines of all usable equipment and material before they were towed to sea for scuttling . US Marine demolition crews then sank the submarines with explosive charges in Operation " Roads End " 1 and 2 April . After leaving Sasebo , she then proceeded to Subic Bay with stops in Nagasaki and Manila . At Subic , the crew loaded torpedoes for transport back to the US . Soon underway for home , she arrived in San Diego , California , on 13 May for a year of submarine service and repair work . On 28 June 1947 she got underway for Operation " Blue Nose . " This cruise was entirely novel for a submarine tender . Together with the submarines , , and , " Nereus " was assigned to TG 17 . 3 . On 15 July she left for the Aleutian Islands where Rear Admiral Alan R . McCann , Commander Submarine Force Pacific came aboard . The group was underway again 25 July , this time for the Pribiloff Islands . During this transit Army Air Force aircraft based at Adak took part in the antisubmarine training . On 30 July " Nereus " passed through the Bering Strait and crossed the Arctic Circle . Following along the International Date Line , the ships of Operation " Blue Nose " sighted pack ice on the morning of 1 August 1947 . After reaching 72 ’ 15 ’ north latitude , the ships continued independently along the ice pack to determine its shape . Before returning to her home port of San Diego , " Nereus " visited Norton Bay , Kodiak , Juneau , and Vancouver The cruise was followed by the ship ' s first overhaul , at Mare Island . Starting in 1948 " Nereus " was primarily engaged in submarine repair and services at San Diego . During the next two decades , " Nereus " made occasional cruises to Pearl Harbor ; to Acapulco , Mexico ; and various west coast ports . In 1948 she was camera - ship photographing the sinking of cruiser some 130 miles off the west coast . In the spring of 1955 , she accompanied submarines , and to Pearl Harbor and acted as observer ship and advance base headquarters during the first firing of operational missiles from submarines . 1960 – 1971 . In November 1960 came alongside " Nereus " , the first nuclear submarine to be serviced by a tender on the west coast . The following year she ministered to fleet ballistic missile ( Polaris ) submarine . In the fall of 1964 , " Nereus " provided underwater support for the operational evaluation of the ASROC weapons system . Two years later her versatility in servicing won her praise from ComSubPac , and the destroyer ’ s captain . " Nereus " entered the U . S . Naval Shipyard at Mare Island on 1 November for overhaul until 7 April 1967 . Following refresher training she reported to ComSubFlot 1 for duty on 11 May . That month she visited Acapulco , Mexico , and became flagship for ComSubFlot 1 and ComSubRon 5 . In the fall of 1967 , UNIVAC 1500 data processing equipment was installed to speed the tender operations . Into 1970 the tender served the submarines of the Pacific Fleet keeping them at peak readiness . " Nereus " was later decommissioned in 1971 , and , as of July 2012 , it was to leave the Maritime Administration ’ s Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay to be broken apart at ESCO Marine Inc . in Brownsville , TX after being scrubbed of marine growth & loose exterior paint in the dry docks of Allied Defense Recycling ( California Dry Dock Solutions ) at Mare Island .