The citation reads : For exceptionally meritorious service during a period in 1967 . USS '' Triton '' conducted important and arduous independent submarine operations of great importance to the national defense of the United States . The outstanding results achieved during the highly successful operations attest to the exceptional professional skill , resourcefulness and ingenuity of '' Triton '' s officers and men . Their inspiring performance of duty throughout was in keeping with the highest traditions of the naval service . Due to cutbacks in defense spending , as well as the expense of operating her twin nuclear reactors , '' Triton '' 's scheduled 1967 overhaul was canceled , and the submarine — along with 60 other vessels — was slated for inactivation . While '' Triton '' s twin reactor plant was designed to be refueled by a submarine tender like other U.S. nuclear submarines , because of the complexity of her zirconium-clad fuel elements , '' Triton '' s previous re-fueling had been done in a shipyard during her 1962 – 1964 overhaul . Although new fuel elements were procured and available for installation , '' Triton '' s overhaul was canceled , a source of controversy . One speculation suggests that the cancellation of '' Triton '' s overhaul allowed funds to be redirected for the repairs to the supercarrier which had been extensively damaged off Vietnam . From October 1968 through May 1969 , she underwent preservation and deactivation processes , and she was decommissioned on 3 May 1969 . '' Triton '' became the U.S. Navy 's first nuclear-powered submarine to be taken out of service , and second in the world , after the Soviet Navy 's November-class submarine '' K-27 '' in 1968 . On 6 May 1969 , '' Triton '' departed New London under tow and proceeded to Norfolk , Virginia , where she was placed in the reserve fleet . She remained berthed at Norfolk or at the St. Julien 's Creek Annex of Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth , Virginia , into 1993 . She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Registry on 30 April 1986 . In August 1993 , the hulks of the ex - '' Triton '' and the ex - '' Ray '' were towed by the salvage tug '' Bolster '' to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard ( PSNS ) , in Bremerton , Washington , arriving on 3 September 1993 , to await their turn in the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program ( SRP )
extensively damaged
1967 USS Forrestal fire
USS Triton (SSRN-586)