Commissioning
The USS Sailfish was the lead member of her class of submarine and the second U.S. Navy vessel named after the sailfish. She was a radar picket submarine, a rare vessel in the American inventory.
The order to build the Sailfish was awarded to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Maine on March 10, 1951. Her keel was laid down on Dec. 8, 1953; she was launched on Sept. 8, 1955. She was commissioned on April 14, 1956, with Lt. Commander S.R. McCord in command.
Underway
When the Sailfish took to the sea, she was the largest conventionally-powered submarine in the U.S. Navy. Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet’s Submarine Squadron 6, she was homeported at Norfolk, Va. In July 1957, she began her first deployment, to the Mediterranean Sea and operations with the 6th Fleet. She would return home in October.
In December 1958, she underwent her first overhaul at Kittery. During the overhaul, she was transferred to Submarine Squadron 10, based at New London, Conn. When she returned to service in July, she took part in several Atlantic Fleet and NATO exercises.
On Feb. 3, 1961, the Sailfish was reclassified as an attack submarine and re-designated SS-572. She made her second deployment to the Mediterranean in October 1962, returning to New London in February 1963.
In January 1965, the Sailfish entered drydock at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for an extensive FRAM II conversion. The process would take 13 months and dramatically altered the Sailfish’s looks. She became sleeker and received the new PUFFS sonar system. By July 1966, she was prepared for her third Mediterranean deployment, which lasted four months.
After an overhaul at Groton, Conn., the Sailfish was assigned to the Pacific Fleet, arriving at Pearl Harbor in the summer of 1969. On Oct. 9 of that year, she began her first Western Pacific deployment. She would remain in the region until May of 1970, taking part in exercises with the navies of South Korea and Japan before returning to Pearl Harbor.
On Feb. 8, 1971, the Sailfish began her second Western Pacific deployment, which lasted six months. She took part in more exercises, this time with the navies of the Philippines and Japan, and made a port of call at Brisbane, Australia, before returning home. She made a third Western Pacific cruise from December 1972-May 1973, after which she was transferred to San Diego.
Decommissioning
The Sailfish was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on Sept. 28, 1978. She remained in the Inactive Fleet at Bremerton, Wash., until May 2007, when she was sunk by a torpedo fired by the USS Topeka during an exercise.
Characteristics of the USS Sailfish
Class and type: Sailfish-class submarine
Displacement: 2,030 long tons (2,063 t) light
2,334 long tons (2,371 t) surfaced
3,168 long tons (3,219 t) submerged
Length: 350 ft (110 m)
Beam: 29 ft 1 in (8.9 m)
Draft: 16 ft 4 in (5 m)
Propulsion: Diesel-electric, 2 screws
Speed: 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph) surfaced
15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) submerged
Complement: 95 officers and men
Armament: 6 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Career:
Name: USS Sailfish
Namesake: Sailfish
Ordered: 10 March 1951
Builder: Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
Laid down: 8 December 1953
Launched: 8 September 1955
Commissioned: 14 April 1956, as SSR-572
Decommissioned: 29 September 1978
Reclassified: SS-572 (Attack submarine), 3 February 1961
Struck: 30 September 1978
Fate: Sunk as target, May 2007
Timeline:
March 1951: USS Sailfish ordered
December 1953: Keel of USS Sailfish laid down
September 1955: USS Sailfish launched
April 1956: USS Sailfish commissioned
February 1961: USS Sailfish re-designated SS-572
1969: USS Sailfish re-assigned to Pacific Fleet
September 1978: USS Sailfish decommissioned
Crewmembers of the USS Sailfish:
An unofficial list of crew members that served on the USS Sailfish 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:
(No listings)
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Sailfish_(SSR-572)
http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08572.htm
