USS Growler (SSG-577)
 Regulus I missile aboard USS Growler at Pier 86 in New York, its museum ship home.
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Growler |
| Namesake | Growler |
| Ordered | 31 July 1954 |
| Builder | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard |
| Laid down | 15 February 1955 |
| Launched | 5 April 1958 |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. Robert K. Byerts, widow of Commander Thomas B. Oakley, Jr. |
| Commissioned | 30 August 1958 |
| Decommissioned | 25 May 1964 |
| Stricken | 1 August 1980 |
| Homeport | Pearl Harbor, HI |
| Status | Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics USS Growler SSG-577 | |
| Class and type | Grayback class submarine |
| Displacement | 2,110 tons light, 3,550 tons full, 1,440 tons dead |
| Length | 96.69 m (317' 3" ft) overall, 96.3 m (316 ft) waterline |
| Beam | 8.2 m (27 ft) extreme, 7.9 m (26 ft) waterline |
| Draught | 5.7 m (19 ft) |
| Propulsion | 3 Diesel engines, 2 Elliott electric motors |
| Speed | 17 kn (20 mph; 31 km/h) surfaced, 12 kn (14 mph; 22 km/h) submerged |
| Test depth | 712 |
| Complement | 9 officers, 11 chief petty officers, 68 enlisted men |
| Armament |
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USS Growler (SSG-577) was an early attempt by the U.S. Navy to field a
What makes Growler and her sister unusual was her nuclear armament, deployed on a conventional diesel-electric submarine. Her mission was to provide nuclear deterrent capability off the Pacific coast of the Soviet Union during peak years of the Cold War, from 1958 to 1964. Additionally, special forces missions were deployed from its torpedo tubes and nuclear hangar.
Construction and training
Growler was
After training exercises off the East Coast Growler sailed south for her shakedown cruise, arriving at the
Operational history
Growler then proceeded to the Pacific via
According to the documentary "Regulus: The First Nuclear Missile Submarines", the primary target for Growler in the event of a nuclear exchange would be to eliminate the Soviet naval base at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.[1] The patrols made by Growler and her sisters represented the first ever deterrent patrols in the history of the submarine Navy, preceding those made by the Polaris missile submarines.[1]
From May 1960 through December 1963, Growler made nine such deterrent mission patrols, the fourth of which terminated at Yokosuka, Japan, on 24 April 1962, as the Navy displayed one of its newest weapons.
Decommissioning and fate
Returning to
Due to the renovations to the entire Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum complex, including USS Intrepid and Pier 86, Growler was towed to Brooklyn for repairs. Holes found rusted in the hull complicated matters and pushed repair costs past $1.5 million. Growler returned to Pier 86 in late February 2009, and was re-opened to the public on 21 May 2009, during the Intrepid museum "Fleet Week 2009" celebration.
Growler today
Growler is the only nuclear missile submarine available open to the public in the United States. As the information areas about the sub on Pier 86 are spacious, visitors are encouraged to learn and take in as much information as they can in the early parts of the tour before entering the submarine. Once on board, lines can move quickly and the ability to ask questions of the staff is limited, but encouraged.
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Gardiner, Robert. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995, London: Conway Maritime Press, Ltd, 1995, pp. 609–610
External links
- USS Growler (SSG-577) at Historic Naval Ships Association
40°45′54″N 74°00′00″W / 40.765110°N 73.999990°W
- Regulus Missile and Submarine Website Archived 2020-04-10 at the Wayback Machine