A large crowd of friends and family braved a rainy New England day to welcome the crew of the nuclear-powered, Los Angeles class, fast-attack submarine, USS San Juan (SSN 751) home to Naval Submarine Base New London from a regularly scheduled deployment on Friday, April 27.

Under the command of Cmdr. Ravi M. Desai, San Juan returned from the European Command area of responsibility.

"I couldn't be more proud of the crew of USS San Juan and their performance throughout this deployment," Desai said. "Their know-how, tenacity and eagerness to get the job done is everything any CO (commanding officer) could hope for. Hoo-Yah San Juan!"

During the deployment, San Juan Sailors served as ambassadors during port visits to Faslane, Scotland, and Rota, Spain.

Five-year-old Eleanor Berta and her mother, Paige, shared the first hug with Lt. Alex Berta, while Brianna Hibbard shared the first kiss with her husband, Sonar Technician (Submarine) 3rd Class Tyler Hibbard.

San Juan friends and family came from destinations as far away Nevada, Texas and California to welcome their Sailors home.

Most of those travelling to the homecoming ceremony arrived without incident, except for Yeoman 2nd Class (Submarine) Thomas Moore's mother, Denise, who had her homecoming sign confiscated by TSA on the flight down because it wasn't in a mailing tube. Undeterred, she created a new sign once arriving in the Groton area.

Information Systems Technician 3rd Class Jacob Jauregui's mother, Dee Anzaldua, and girlfriend Lyndsey Jacobson where both on hand for their first homecoming.

"I'm very excited and anxious to see him; I want to see how pale he is," said Jacobson. "I just want to hug and kiss him."

Jauregui's mother said it was a first deployment and a homecoming for all of three of them.

"I was excited and worried, but I'm proud of him and can't wait to give him a big hug," she said.

After returning from a successful deployment, San Juan's crew will take part in a post deployment stand-down before preparing for their next assignment.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Naval Submarine Support Center, New London, visit www.navy.mil/.