Commissioning
The USS Pogy, (SSN-647 submarine, nuclear-powered) was a member of the Sturgeon class of nuclear fast attack submarines. It was the second ship in U.S. Navy history named for the trout found in Lake Tahoe, California; the first USS Pogy (SS-266), was also a submarine and served 10 combat patrols during World War II. The contract to build her was awarded to the New York Shipbuilding Corporation March 22, 1963 and her keel was laid on May 5, 1964.
The Pogy was launched on June 3, 1967, but was not complete. Two days later, the contract for the submarine was cancelled and she was towed to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for storage. On Dec. 7, 1967, the contract to complete the Pogy’s construction was awarded to the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation of Pascagoula, Miss. The submarine was towed to Pascagoula starting on Jan. 8, 1968. The Pogy was completed there and commissioned on May 15, 1971.
Underway
Assigned to the Navy’s Pacific Fleet, the Pogy spent most of its career quietly monitoring the activities of Soviet submarines and surface ships in the Northern Pacific. It also served as a testing platform for a number of instruments designed for other uses. Examples include technology intended for the space program and the first towed sonar array.
In August 1996, the Pogy was ordered to support Scientific Ice Expeditions (SCICEX)-96. Two months later, she entered the Bering Strait to collect water samples from more than 100 different locations under the Arctic polar ice cap. The Pogy also continuously recorded ocean currents, water salinity and temperature, and surfaced 19 times through the ice cap to obtain surface readings.
The Pogy is perhaps best known for its role in an operation that was a work of fiction. In Tom Clancy’s book The Hunt for Red October, the Pogy, along with the USS Dallas, escort the defecting Soviet ballistic missile submarine towards American shores. The Pogy’s role in the “operation” was later dropped in the movie version.
Decommissioning
The Pogy entered the Navy’s Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., on June 11, 1999. It was decommissioned and struck the same day. The Pogy was declared scrapped on April 12, 2000.
Characteristics of the USS Pogy (Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Type: Nuclear-powered fast attack submarine
Displacement: 3975 tons light, 4263 tons full, 288 tons dead
Length: 89 m (292 ft)
Beam: 9.7 m (32 ft)
Draft: 8.8 m (29 ft)
Powerplant: S5W reactor
Speed: 15 knots surfaced, 25 knots submerged
Depth: 1300 feet
Complement: 14 officers, 95 men
Armament: 4 x 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Career:
Awarded: March 23, 1963
Laid down: May 5, 1964
Launched: June 3, 1967
Commissioned: May 15, 1971
Stricken: June 11, 1999
Fate: submarine recycling
Timeline:
March 1963: Contract to build USS Pogy awarded
May 1964: Keel of USS Pogy laid
June 3, 1967: USS Pogy launched
June 5, 1967: Contract for construction of USS Pogy cancelled; unfinished submarine towed to Philadelphia Naval Ship Yard
December 1967: Contract to build USS Pogy reassigned
May 1971: USS Pogy commissioned
Fall 1996: USS Pogy completes multiple science experiments above the Artic Circle
June 1999: USS Pogy decommissioned
April 2000: Submarine ceases to exist
Crewmembers of the USS Pogy:
An unofficial list of crew members that served on the USS Pogy can be found on the unofficial navy website at: http://navysite.de. This list is compiled by former crewmembers that voluntarily register. Some quoted comments from former crewmembers are listed below; many more are available on the source website at the following web address: http://navysite.de/ssn/ssn647.htm
Paul Bouchard (served from August 1997 – February 2000): “She was an old pig, but she was our pig. The old girl got us home in one piece every time. Great people, great times, proud to have served.”
