Honolulu featured unique split stern planes that operated from independent hydraulic systems.

With this redundant configuration, the inboard and outboard planes could be operated independently, preventing a failure of one or the other from causing an uncontrolled dive.

Honolulu held a farewell ceremony in Pearl Harbor on 15 April 2006, that included remarks by Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona, U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Gary Roughead and former Honolulu commanding officer Vice Admiral Jonathan Greenert.

Ex-Honolulu entered the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program in Bremerton, Washington.

[2] Although it had already been decommissioned, the submarine is featured prominently in the 2008 naval thriller, Black Sea Affair, by Don Brown.