USS Halibut (SSGN-587)
The USS Halibut
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | USS Halibut |
Namesake | The halibut |
Laid down | 11 April 1957 |
Launched | 9 January 1959 |
Sponsored by | Vernice Holifield |
Commissioned | 4 January 1960 |
Decommissioned | 30 June 1976 |
Reclassified | From SSGN-587 to SSN-587, 15 April 1965 |
Stricken | 30 April 1986 |
Fate | Disposed of through the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program, 9 September 1994 |
General characteristics | |
Type |
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Displacement | 3655 tons surfaced, 5000 tons submerged |
Length | 350 ft (110 m) |
Beam | 29 ft (8.8 m) |
Draft | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
Propulsion | S3W reactor, 7300 shp; two turbines, two shafts[1] |
Speed | 15/20+kt (28/37 km/h) (surfaced/submerged)[1] |
Range | unlimited except by food supplies |
Complement | 9 officers and 88 men |
Armament |
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USS Halibut (SSGN-587), a unique nuclear-powered guided missile submarine-turned-special operations platform, later redesignated as an attack submarine SSN-587, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after the halibut.
Operational history
Halibut's keel was laid down by
Regulus deterrence patrols, 1960 – 1965
Halibut was originally designed under project
Halibut departed on her shakedown cruise 11 March 1960. On 25 March,[3] underway to Australia, she became the first nuclear-powered submarine to successfully launch a guided missile. She returned to Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 18 June 1960, and after short training cruises sailed 7 November for Pearl Harbor to join the Pacific Fleet. During her first deployment she successfully launched her seventh consecutive Regulus I missile during a major Southeast Asia Treaty Organization weapons demonstration. Returning to Pearl Harbor on 9 April 1961, Halibut began her second deployment 1 May. During subsequent cruises, she participated in several missile firing exercises and underwent training.[citation needed]
Halibut deployed for the third time to the Western Pacific in late 1961, establishing a pattern of training and readiness operations followed through 1964. On 4 May 1964 Halibut departed
According to the documentary Regulus: The First Nuclear Missile Submarines the primary target for Halibut in the event of a nuclear exchange would be to eliminate the Soviet naval base at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.[5] The patrols made by Halibut and its sister Regulus-firing submarines represented the first ever deterrent patrols in the history of the submarine navy, preceding those made by the Polaris missile firing submarines.[5]
Special operations missions, 1965 – 1976
Conversion for special operations (1965)
In 1965,
Craven was provided with a selection of either USS Seawolf or USS Halibut to convert as the budget could not commission a new, purpose-built vessel.[7] Preferring USS Halibut, he was awarded $70 million in February 1965 to "...Out-fit her with electronic, sonic, photographic, and video gadgets...".[8] Halibut entered Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a major overhaul, and on 15 August was redesignated as an attack submarine with the hull classification symbol SSN-587.
Chronology of special operations (1965–1976)
She sailed from
Halibut was used on underwater espionage missions by the US against the Soviet Union.[11] Her most notable accomplishments include:[citation needed]
- The underwater tapping of a Soviet communication line running from the Kamchatka peninsula west to the Soviet mainland in the Sea of Okhotsk (Operation Ivy Bells)
- Surveying sunken Soviet submarine K-129 in August 1968, prior to the CIA's Project Azorian.
The latter mission is profiled in the 1996 book, Spy Sub – A Top Secret Mission to the Bottom of the Pacific, by Dr. Roger C. Dunham, although Dunham was required to change the name of Halibut to that of the non-existent USS Viperfish with a false hull number of SSN-655 to pass Department of Defense security restrictions for publication.[12][13][14]
Final disposition
Halibut was
Awards and commendations
Presidential Unit Citation with 1 star | ||
Navy Unit Commendation with 2 stars | Navy E Ribbon with wreathed Battle "E" Device | National Defense Service Medal |
In April 1997, officers and men of Halibut and the other four US Navy submarines that conducted strategic deterrent patrols in the Western Pacific between 1959 and 1964 were awarded the right to wear the Navy's SSBN Deterrent Patrol insignia.[citation needed]
Presidential Unit Citation – 1968
- Citation:
For exceptional meritorious service on support of National Research and Development efforts while serving as a unit in the Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Conducting highly technical submarine operations, over an extended period of time, USS HALIBUT (SSN-587) successfully concluded several missions of significant scientific value to the Government of the United States. The professional, military, and technical competence, and inspiring devotion to duty of HALIBUT's officers and men, reflect great credit upon themselves and the United States Naval Service.[15]
Citation was given for the search and discovery of the wreck of a Soviet submarine K-129 in three miles of water during Project Azorian.[citation needed]
Presidential Unit Citation – 1972
- Citation:
For extraordinary heroism and outstanding performance of duty as a unit in the Submarine Force, United States Pacific Fleet during 1972, USS HALIBUT successfully accomplished two highly productive and complex submarine operations of immeasurable value to the Government of the United States. The superb professional competence, extremely effective teamwork and exemplary devotion to duty displayed by the officers and men of USS HALIBUT reflect great credit upon themselves, the Submarine Force and the United States Naval Service.[15]
See also
- USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23)
- USS Parche (SSN-683)
- USS Seawolf (SSN-575)
References
- ^ a b c Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. (1978). "Halibut". The Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Weapons and Warfare. Vol. II. London: Phoebus. p. 1205.
- ISBN 1-55750-260-9.
- ISBN 978-0-89747-293-7. Page caption dates it 31 March. Adcock (p.4), also credits mythical interwar Albacore and Trout classes, however.
- ^ "Patrol Insignia for Regulus veterans" (PDF). Navy Nuclear Weapons Association. Summer 1997. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
- ^ a b Nick T. Spark (director), Roy Scheider (narrator) (21 April 2002). Regulus: The First Nuclear Missile Submarines (Television production).
- )
- )
- )
- ^ "Halibut Poster". www.hisutton.com.
- ^ "New Halibut kit coming. [Archive] - SubCommittee Forums". Archived from the original on 31 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "Secret Sub - USS Halibut". Covert Shores. 2 January 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ^ "Spy Sub – hardback – By Roger C. Dunham". Submarinebooks.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ^ Dillman, Grant (21 August 1997). "Story of sunken Russian sub is slowly surfacing". Deseret News. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ^ "Nonexistent U.S. Submarine Makes the History Channel". Molten Eagle. 2 October 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ^ a b "Presidential Unit Citation". USS Halibut Veteran's Association. Archived from the original on 30 October 2007. Retrieved 30 October 2007.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Robert, Gardiner, ed. (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. London: Conway Maritime Press, Ltd. p. 610.
- Photo gallery of USS Halibut (SSGN-587) at NavSource Naval History
Further reading
- Norman Polmar and J.K. Moore. Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines. Washington, DC: Potomac Books, Inc., 2004. ISBN 1-57488-530-8(paperback)
- Roger C. Dunham. "Spy Sub – Top Secret Mission To The Bottom Of The Pacific". Penguin Books, USA; New York, NY, 1996. ISBN 0-451-40797-0
External links
- Some good US Navy pictures Archived 10 April 2020 at the History Channelin Europe.