Submarine Squadron 1 gets a new commander at Pearl Harbor

Capt. Harry Ganteaume, left, is relieved by Capt. Timothy Rexrode as commanding officer of Submarine Squadron 1 at a change of command ceremony overseen by Rear Adm. Phil Sawyer, commander of Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jason Swink/Released)

A change of command took place for a U.S. Navy submarine squadron at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Thursday.
Capt. Harry Ganteaume, commanding officer of Submarine Squadron 1, was relieved by Capt. Timothy Rexrode during a ceremony at the submarine piers.
Ganteaume, of Richmond, Va., was awarded the Legion of Merit for his command, serving from October 2013 to March 2015.
During Ganteaume’s 18-month tour as commodore, the squadron prepared five submarines for deployment, welcomed the arrival of the newest Virginia-class submarine to the waterfront (USS Mississippi SSN 782), and oversaw the completion of the first-ever major maintenance availability of a Virginia-class submarine at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.
“The highlight of my tour will always be bidding farewell to deploying crews, excited about going out to do what they have been training and preparing for,” said Ganteaume, “as well as welcoming them back, six to seven months later — sailors filled with and immense sense of pride about what they have accomplished.”
Submarine Squadron 1 was first established in May 1941 at New London, Conn. and moved to the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on Oct. 1, 1945.
It has remained there ever since.