USS Whale (SSN-638)

USS Whale (SSN-638) and her ship's insignia
History
United States
Name	Whale
Namesake	The whale
Builder	General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division, Quincy , Massachusetts
Laid down	27 May 1964
Launched	14 October 1966
Sponsored by	Mrs. Russell B. Long
Commissioned	12 October 1968
Decommissioned	25 June 1996
Stricken	25 June 1996
Identification	Hull symbol: SSN-638 Call sign: NSIG
Honors and awards	Battle Efficiency Award (Battle "E") (1991)
Fate	Scrapping via Ship and Submarine Recycling Program , 29 September 1997
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Sturgeon-class attack submarine
Displacement	3,860 long tons (3,922 t) surfaced 4,640 long tons (4,714 t) submerged
Length	292 ft 3 in (89.08 m)
Beam	31 ft 8 in (9.65 m)
Draft	28 ft 8 in (8.74 m)
Installed power	15,000  kW )
Propulsion	1 × S5W nuclear reactor 2 × steam turbines 1 × shaft
Speed	15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) surfaced 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) submerged
Test depth	1,300 ft (396 m)
Complement	107
Armament	4 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes Mark 48 torpedoes UUM-44A SUBROC missiles UGM-84A/C Harpoon missiles Tomahawk cruise missiles

USS Whale (SSN-638) was a

Whale arrived in her first home port, Charleston, South Carolina, on 2 November 1968, and, after a week in port, put to sea on 9 November 1968, for shakedown training, which she completed in November and December 1968, along with a series of post-commissioning tests, trials, and qualifications. In January 1969, she began normal operations out of Charleston, with attack submarine training along the southeastern coast of the United States.^[2]

On 18 March 1969, Whale stood out of Charleston, on her way north to operations above the

During the first half of 1970, Whale continued operations out of Charleston. In late January, she participated in tests with a Navy Underwater Demolition Team and, in February and March, took part in three major fleet exercises. In April, she headed north for a brief tour of duty as training ship for the Prospective Commanding Officers' School at New London, Connecticut. She returned to Charleston, at the end of the first week in May, and spent the remainder of the month conducting acoustic trials.^[2]

Whale departed Charleston, on 27 July 1970, for an overseas deployment which she concluded in mid-September, with visits to Faslane and

Three fleet exercises and local operations out of Charleston, occupied Whale during the first half of 1971. Late in July, she deployed once more for special operations in the Atlantic Ocean, concluding that cruise late in September 1971, at Bremerhaven, West Germany. She returned to Charleston, on 12 October 1971, and resumed local operations upon arrival. That routine continued until 20 March 1972, when she departed once again for another special operations cruise in the Atlantic. At the end of that voyage, she made a brief call at Holy Loch, before returning to Charleston, on 9 June 1972.^[2]

Almost two months after her return to the United States, Whale left Charleston, and headed north to Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut, her new home port. She entered the shipyard at the Electric Boat Division, in Groton, on 7 August 1972, for a 46-week overhaul and remained there undergoing repairs until 27 October 1973.^[2]

Whale completed post-overhaul shakedown and refresher training in November and December 1973, and began preparations for another deployment to the Mediterranean, in response to the Middle Eastern crisis brought about by the

1979–1987

This section needs expansion with: History from 1979 to 1987. You can help by adding to it. (December 2009)

In April 1979, Whale departed Groton, for the Mediterranean. She made stops in Sousse, Tunisia; La Spezia, LaMaddellena and Naples, Italy and Tangier, Morocco. While in the Mediterranean Whale participated in fleet exercises. 1979-Fall, 1980: Whale was in an extended period of refit/repair (Selected Restricted Availability), in the floating drydock Shippingport in Groton, Connecticut. After refloating, workups, and training, she proceeded south for torpedo proficiency exercises, stopping for liberty at Port Everglades, Florida. Go Go dancers from Butch Cassidy's greeted Whale and her crew on arrival, and were heartily welcomed aboard. Whale spent the remainder of 1980, and early 1981, on short training and test deployments, one of which concluded with the "Thunderbuoy" and "Whitefish" exercises. With a fresh coat of paint, and a new skipper, CDR E.D. Morrow, Whale proceeded to the Mediterranean in June 1981, stopping on her way at Cartagena, Spain, which proved to be her only liberty port on this deployment. Whale spent the next six months in the Mediterranean Sea, taking part in the US Navy's defiance of Libyan president Mohammar Khadaffi's "Line of Death" in the Gulf of Sidra. Whale made periodic up-keeps at the submarine tender Orion, in La Maddelena, Sardinia. Early 1982, found Whale back home in Groton, making frequent short training workup runs, honing the crew's proficiency to a fine tune. In May 1982, Whale proceeded on an Atlantic deployment, (pollywogs among the crew becoming "Bluenoses" on the way), and later a stop in Faslane, Scotland. Whale earned the Battle "E" for efficiency after this deployment. Early 1983, Whale had a new skipper, Captain James E. Welsch. Mid 1983, Whale was suddenly given a double barrel patrol – a North Atlantic deployment immediately followed by an abbreviated Mediterranean patrol. This was due to Tullibee being unable to handle her commitments. This deployment, dubbed the "Nor-Med Run", was quite active, with port visits in Holy Loch, Scotland, Toulon, France, and La Spezia and La Maddalena, Italy. Whale left La Maddalena, on Christmas Day 1983, and returned to Groton, in January 1984. 1984 was spent doing up keep, refit, drilling, and short training deployments, most notably spending a week in St Croix, Virgin Islands. In January 1985, Whale again went on patrol to the Mediterranean, with stops in Holy Loch, Scotland, Brest, France, La Maddalena, Italy, as well as Rotterdam, Netherlands, prior to Whale being temporarily reassigned to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, at Bremerton, Washington, for an overhaul period starting in November 1985. While undergoing overhaul in 1986, Whale crew members formed a unit softball team, which competed in and won the Northwestern Pacific Softball Championship. For a crew of roughly 120 to compete against much larger ships and commands, this was quite an accomplishment.

January 1988, Whale was in Bremerton, completing its overhaul. She went through sea trials and left Washington, in May 1988, for her to return to her home port at Groton, under the command of Commander J. W. Francis. Whale crossed the equator on 17 June 1988, and transited the Panama Canal, on 19 June 1988, finally returning to Groton, as an operational unit of Submarine Squadron 10.

This section needs expansion with: History from June 1988 to February 1989. You can help by adding to it. (December 2009)

Whale's next major deployment was to the Mediterranean from January through June 1989, during which she made stops in Scotland, Portugal, Spain, and Italy.

From August through December 1990, Whale was sent on a North Atlantic deployment under the command of Commander Ronald Deering, for which she was awarded her fifth Meritorious Unit Commendation.

In 1991, Whale was awarded the last

In 1992, Whale participated in

In 1993, Whale visited Bermuda, while transiting from the Autec Torpedo Firing Range, and Florida ports of call, conducted a scientific exercise under the ice cap at the North Pole and in the North Atlantic.

Following the final Change of Command in January 1994, Whale deployed to the Arctic with HMS Trenchant (S91) in support of combined United States and Royal Navy testing of submarine equipment as well as collection of environmental data in the polar region. JOINTSUBICEX 1-94 saw Whale's second North Pole surfacing on 16 April 1994, 25 years and 10 days, after her first polar surfacing in 1969. Around this time, Whale circumnavigated the globe by circling the North Pole underwater to earn each crewmember the Order of Magellan. This circumnavigation occurred in about 15 minutes as the ship used underwater navigational means to cross every longitude, a feat that only a submarine could accomplish in 1994. Following visits to Norway, Germany and Scotland, Whale returned to SUBRON TWO in July 1994.

This section needs expansion with: History for 1994. You can help by adding to it. (December 2009)

Following a circumnavigation of the world, Whale was deactivated while still in commission on 28 April 1995. Whale was placed in reserve, in commission, on 1 October 1995.

Whale's scrapping via the U.S. Navy's Nuclear-Powered

 This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.

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