Commissioning
The USS Silversides, (SSN-679 submarine, nuclear-powered) was a member of the Sturgeon class of nuclear fast attack submarines. It was the second U.S. Navy vessel, and second submarine, to be named after the fish. The first USS Silversides was a Gato-class submarine that served during World War II. The contract to build the Silversides was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corp.’s Groton (Conn.) Shipyard on June 25, 1968.
Her keel was laid down on Oct. 13, 1969; she was launched on June 4, 1971. She was commissioned and joined the ranks of the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet on May 5, 1972, with Commander John E. Allen in command. She was given the motto “Vini, Vidi, Vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered).
Underway
Following her shakedown cruise, the Silversides arrived at her homeport of Charleston, S.C. It operated in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea for the next five years until it went to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in January 1977. When the Silversides came out of drydock, its homeport was changed to Norfolk.
While the Silversides spent most of its career shadowing Soviet (and later Russian) submarines and ships in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, it also made several deployments to the Arctic Ocean. In late 1989, the Silversides arrived in the Arctic and surfaced at the North Pole. It continued under the polar ice cap and left the Arctic Ocean to enter the Pacific for the first time. After taking part in exercises with the Pacific Fleet and making stops at Pearl Harbor and the American west coast, the Silversides passed through the Panama Canal and returned to Norfolk. The trip was only the second circumnavigation of the North American continent by an American submarine.
The Silversides spent another five years as part of the Atlantic Fleet, undertaking regular operations.
Decommissioning
The Silversides was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on Aug. 2, 1994. The Silversides entered the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, Wash., on Oct.1, 2000, and was declared scrapped exactly one year later.
Characteristics of the USS Silversides
Displacement: 4155 tons light, 4450 tons full, 295 tons dead
Length: 90.8 m (298 ft)
Beam: 9.7 m (32 ft)
Draft: 8.8 m (29 ft)
Propulsion: S5W reactor
Speed: 20+ knots
Complement: 14 officers, 112 men
Armament: 4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Career:
Ordered: June 25, 1968
Builder: General Dynamics
Laid down: Oct. 13, 1969
Launched: June 4, 1971
Commissioned: May 5, 1972
Decommissioned: July 21, 1994
Struck: July 21, 1994
Motto: Veni Vidi Vici
Fate: submarine recycling
Timeline:
June 1968: USS Silversides ordered
October 1969: Keel of USS Silversides laid
June 1971: USS Silversides launched
May 1972: USS Silversides commissioned
1989: USS Silversides circumnavigates North America
July 1994: USS Silversides decommissioned
October 2001: USS Silversides scrapped
Crewmembers of the USS Silversides:
An unofficial list of crew members that served on the USS Silversides can be found on the unofficial navy website at: 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 Navysite.de.
KP McNeal (served 1971-74): “Plankowner—New London, Charleston, Med and Northern Run.”
Peter Kennedy (served 1971-76): “Plankowner—Had some great fun with all the Splitheads, who could forget the sea trials, the PR and St. Croix as well as Scotland and the Med run.”
Ben Couto (served April 1971-November 1974): “Plankowner, sea trials, Med run, Northern Lights de-fogging periscope lens (awesome). Tough chain of command, great crew. Good memories and friends.”
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Silversides_(SSN-679)
