The USS Hunley (AS-31) was a Hunley Class submarine tender launched in 1961, commissioned in 1962, and designed to tend to Polaris Class submarines. The vessel sailed in 1962 for shakedown training and departed for duty to Scotland. Upon arrival, she began taking over the tasks from USS Proteus, whom she officially relieved in 1963 as tender to Submarine Squadron 14. This assignment continued until 1964, when the ship underwent a conversion for the the new A3 Polaris Missile. She resumed her duties in Scottland under the motto "We Serve to Preserve Peace ." In 1967, the tender relieved the USS Proteus in Guam until 1968, when Proteus underwent a self-overhaul. The ship's Machinery Repair Division received the Meritorious Unit Commendation in 1971 for servicing the Pacific Fleet. After a conversion overhaul in 1973, the vessel tended to the Atlantic Fleet. She relieved the USS Proteus again in Guam and continued tender duties until 1980. The USS Hunley was decommissioned in 1994, struck from the Register in 1995, turned over to the Maritime Commission in 1999, and sold for scrapping in 2007. With asbestos present in hundreds of products on Navy ships, veterans should have their health regularly checked with chest X-rays, CT scans, and breathing tests.
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