Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS San Francisco (SSN 711) marked the end of 35 years of active service with a change of command and farewell ceremony at Naval Base Point Loma, Nov. 4.

Capt. Daniel Caldwell relieved Cmdr. Jeff Juergens as commanding officer of San Francisco in the ceremony.

"By any measure, the San Francisco has had a stellar career as an operational submarine," said Juergens. "I've been extremely fortunate to be one of the few to command this fine submarine, and especially lucky to get to command San Francisco for the last three years, which have been so successful."

Also as part of the ceremony, previous crew members, plankowners, commanding officers, friends and family bid farewell to the vessel.

"The USS San Francisco is a can-do, workhorse ship and there's no doubt that started with her original crew 35 years ago," said Capt. Brian Davies, commanding officer of Submarine Squadron 11. "She still has a lot of work to do and a new purpose to fulfill. Today will close that chapter of active-duty service, and bid her fair winds and following seas as she starts the new chapter of her conversion into a moored training ship."

Later this month, San Francisco will shift homeport to Norfolk to begin a two-year conversion process to become a moored training ship. Following the conversion, she will be moved to Nuclear Power Training Unit in Charleston, South Carolina. She will help challenge and train a new generation of submariners through 2040.

San Francisco completed her final Western Pacific deployment in October steaming over 50,000 nautical miles and conducting port visits in Japan, Singapore, and Guam. Prior to arriving back in San Diego, she made a last visit to her namesake city and her Sailors participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the USS San Francisco Memorial Park.

San Francisco was commissioned April 24, 1981. Measuring more than 360 feet long and displacing more than 6,300 tons, San Francisco has a crew of approximately 150 Sailors and is capable of supporting various missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike warfare, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

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