USS Baton Rouge (SSN-689) - Operational History

Operational History

In preparations for her first overseas assignment, Baton Rouge was deployed to New London in September for training before returning to Norfolk for last-minute checks prior to the deployment. She left port on 19 October 1978, and raised her first port of call in La Maddalena, Sardinia, on 1 November. Baton Rouge also visited La Spezia and took part in a variety of ASW exercises through the winter of 1978 and 1979.

The submarine returned to Norfolk from her first overseas assignment in March 1979. After post-deployment stand-down, Baton Rouge resumed normal operations later that year. These included participation in two major ASW exercises and visits to such widely-separated places as Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. In July, she was assigned to Submarine Squadron 8 but continued to use Norfolk as her base of operations. During September–October, Baton Rouge participated in a major NATO exercise – Operation Ocean Safari – which took her across the Atlantic once more and included a call at Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She returned to Norfolk from that mission during the latter part of October and spent the remainder of 1979 in a restricted availability.

In 1980, she was deployed to the Indian Ocean and circumnavigated the earth, passing through the International Date Line and the Panama Canal. For the deployment, she was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation when she arrived in Norfolk. As was the case in the Indian Pacific in 1980, in in 1981 Baton Rouge again came under the command of Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet (CINCPACFLT), after which she received the Meritorious Unit Commendation. For the third time, Baton Rouge came under the command of CINCPACFLT when she made her second deployment to the Mediterranean Sea.

In the mid-1980s, the boat underwent an eighteen-month overhaul at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. The overhaul, which ended in spring 1986, saw the addition to Baton Rouge the AN/BQQ-5C sonar system, the CCS Mk-1 digital fire-control system, and the ESGN navigation system. She made her third deployment to the Mediterranean in November, and her fourth in January 1990. Between these two assignment, Baton Rouge conducted a deployment to the North Atlantic, and was awarded her second Meritorious Unit Commendation.