Her namesake city. Her sponsor. The people who carried her through 33 years of Naval service — and who are building her permanent memorial right now.
USS Albuquerque (SSN-706) was named for the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico — and the bond between the two held through her entire 33-year career. The city served as her sponsor, her namesake, and now her final resting place: her sail is being installed as a permanent memorial at Tingley Beach in Albuquerque.
This page is about that relationship. The city she was named for. The people who turned out for every Change of Command. The Rolls Royce that was promised to the first skipper to pilot her up the Rio Grande. And the memorial being built right now by the City of Albuquerque, the Albuquerque Historical Society, and the shipmates who loved her.
Albuquerque was founded in 1706 by Spanish explorers and named for the Duke of Albuquerque. Located in the fertile Rio Grande Valley at nearly 5,000 feet of elevation, the city is cradled by the Sandia Mountains and surrounded by high desert. The ship's hull number SSN-706 is a direct nod to the 1706 founding date — a detail the crew carried with pride for 33 years.
Today, Albuquerque is a commercial, military research, and finance center with a population of over 500,000. It's home to Sandia National Laboratories, Kirtland Air Force Base, and more than 700 firms producing goods from processed foods to electrical machinery. The city offers outstanding recreational areas for skiing, hiking, and camping — and hosts world-class events including the International Balloon Fiesta each October.
The bond between city and submarine was deep from the start. At commissioning in 1983, the Mayor of Albuquerque presented a set of keys for a new Rolls Royce to the Commanding Officer — to be awarded to the first skipper to pilot the boat up the Rio Grande for a port visit. At every subsequent Change of Command ceremony, those keys passed from outgoing CO to incoming CO. Across all 14 commanding officers and 34 years, the keys were never claimed and the Rolls Royce was never driven — because the Rio Grande is too shallow and Albuquerque sits at 5,000 feet of elevation. The tradition itself was the point.
In February 2026, retired Navy submariner Terry Owen — a former reactor operator aboard USS Albuquerque — gave a presentation at the Albuquerque Museum. The 80-minute talk walks through the boat's 30-year career with first-hand stories of life aboard, and includes an update on the permanent memorial being built at Tingley Beach.
The presentation includes an embedded KUSI News San Diego segment featuring on-camera remarks from Commander Donald I. Tenney, the boat's final commanding officer.
Source: Albuquerque Historical Society YouTube channel. Recorded Feb 15, 2026 at the Albuquerque Museum.
Following her decommissioning in February 2017, the sail of USS Albuquerque — the 26-foot tall tower atop the hull — was removed at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and shipped to Albuquerque. The City of Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Historical Society are now building a permanent memorial for her, anchored around that sail, at Tingley Beach — the city's waterfront park along the Rio Grande.
The memorial was sponsored in the New Mexico State Senate by Sen. and Rear Admiral (ret.) William "Bill" Payne as Senate Memorial 12 (2015), formally recognizing the 33-year service of SSN-706 and the sailors who crewed her. The physical memorial is being built by volunteers and the local USSVI (United States Submarine Veterans Inc.) chapter.
The memorial will include the restored sail as its centerpiece, with an interactive exhibit about the boat's history planned alongside. If you want to support the project — whether you served aboard or just appreciate the city's commitment to honoring her — the Albuquerque Historical Society (a 501(c)(3) charitable organization) is the current point of contact.
USS Albuquerque was christened on March 13, 1982 by Nancy L. Domenici, wife of New Mexico Senator Pietro V. "Pete" Domenici. The Senator served New Mexico in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 2009 — Pete Domenici's connection to the boat spanned much of her career, and the Domenici family remained deeply tied to her from christening through decommissioning.
This tribute site is a labor of love for the shipmates who served aboard USS Albuquerque. It's maintained independently, in coordination with the USS Albuquerque Facebook crew community. If you're part of the city government, a local news outlet, a civic organization, or just a citizen of Albuquerque who's proud of your namesake submarine — we'd love to hear from you.
The shipmates of SSN-706 are proud to have carried the name of your city into every ocean on the planet. Their memorial at Tingley Beach is the right place for the journey to end. If this site helps raise awareness of the project — or if there's a way we can collaborate to tell the story more fully — please reach out.