USS DIXON (AS-37) (Submarine Tender) 'READY FOR SERVICE'

USS DIXON (AS-37), a L. Y. Spear Class Submarine Tender, was commissioned on 7 AUG 1971. 

USS DIXON served her country for 24 years, 4 months and 8 days, until decommissioned on 15 DEC 1995. Built in Quincy MA, USS DIXON was commissioned in Norfolk, VA and then steamed for her homeport of San Diego, CA. She spent ten years close to home on the West Coast, then made her first West Pac - Indian Ocean deployment in 1981. The cycle repeated with ten years passing again before another West Pac in 1992. USS DIXON tended the Fleet, winning numerous awards for Technical and Service Excellence over her career. In October 1995 she transited the Panama Canal, headed for Norfolk, VA. She was decommissioned in December 1995. In July 2003 the hulk of DIXON was sunk in a Fleet exercise off the coast of North Carolina.

The USS DIXON (AS-37) deployment history and significant events of her service career follow:

 

AS-37 Deployments - Major Events

Month Year     to         Month Year     Deployment / Event

SEP      1967                                        Keel Date: 7 SEP 1967

at General Dynamics

JUN     1970                                        Launch Date: 20 JUN 1970

AUG    1971                                        Commissioned: 7 AUG 1971

SEP      1971    -                                   Shellback Initiation - 16 SEP 1971 - Pacific Ocean

SEP      1971    -           JAN     1972    Mediterranean-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf

FEB     1973    -                                   Shellback Initiation - 4 FEB 1973 - Pacific Ocean

JAN     1981    -           MAY   1981    West Pac-Indian Ocean

MAY   1981    -                                   Shellback Initiation - 29 MAY 1981 - Pacific Ocean

MAY   1981    -                                   Shellback Initiation - 29 MAY 1981 - Pacific Ocean

Summer 1986 -                                    Open Invitation to HMS Swiftsure at San Diego

JAN     1987    -           JAN     1988    Alaska

MAY   1988    -           JUN     1988    Alaska

JUN     1992    -           JAN     1993    Desert Storm

JUN     1992    -           JAN     1993    Desert Storm

DEC     1992                                        Shellback Initiation - 11 DEC 1992 - Indian Ocean

OCT     1995    -           OCT     1995    Panama Canal

DEC     1995                                        Decommissioned: 15 DEC 1995

AS-37 General Specifications

Class: L. Y. Spear Class Submarine Tender

Named for: George E. Dixon

Complement: 1338 Officers and Enlisted

Displacement: 22640 tons

Length: 644 feet

Beam: 85 feet

Flank Speed: 20 knots

Final Disposition: Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise 21 July 2003