USS Georgia returns to Kings Bay after long deployment
Oct. 6—After more than two years at sea, the USS Georgia has returned to its home port, Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay.
During the boat's 790-day deployment, it sailed more than 100,000 nautical miles — more than four times around the world. Port calls included Souda Bay, Greece; Gibraltar; Oman; Diego Garcia; Faslane, Scotland and Bahrain.
Rear Adm. Thomas R. "TR" Buchanan, commander of Submarine Group Ten, recognized the hard work it took to keep the ship out for an extended period of time.
"We ask a tremendous amount out of our submariners who forward deploy and operate for months away for home," Buchanan said. "Georgia has been doing the nation's business for 790 days. It is with great pride we welcome them back to their homeport after a job exceptionally well done."
During deployment, two crews, Blue and Gold, alternated manning the submarine, performing four crew exchanges of command. While one crew served aboard the boat for four to six months, the other crew returned home to Kings Bay to conduct training at Trident Training Facility. Training included simulated missions and scenarios to ensure the crew remained tactically and operationally ready.
The Georgia is among the four oldest Ohio-class submarines converted from a ballistic missile submarine to a guided missile submarine.
Kings Bay is home port to two of the boats: Georgia and Florida. They can carry up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and can be configured to hold as many as 66 Special Operational Force personnel.
The converted submarines perform clandestine missions across the globe, many of which will go unrecognized.
