The Navy's longest-serving sub is about to retire

(Image: Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Hinton)

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM (HawaiiNewsNow) - The USS Bremerton is getting a well-deserved retirement.

The Navy's oldest commissioned submarine sailed into the pier at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Friday for the final time, returning crew from a six-month deployment in the Western Pacific.

Friends and family were there for the homecoming, and to say a fond farewell to a the USS Bremerton, too.

The submarine was launched in 1978 and officially commissioned in March 1981.

"The Bremerton is one of the most impressive engineering marvels in human history," Master Chief Fire Control Technician Wade Jacobson said, in a news release. "It is truly incredible for a warship to be operational at such deep and strenuous depths for nearly 40 years."

The submarine is named in honor of the city of Bremerton, Wash. And that's where it's headed for deactivation.