Commissioning
The USS Swordfish is a member of the Skate-class of nuclear-powered attack submarines. She was the second submarine in U.S. Navy history named after the fish.
The order to build the Swordfish was awarded to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard of Kittery, Maine, on July 18, 1955. Her keel was laid down on Jan. 25, 1958; she was launched on Aug. 27, 1957. She was commissioned on Sept. 15, 1958, with Commander Shannon D. Cramer Jr. commanding.
Underway
After completing a shakedown cruise in the Atlantic Ocean, the Swordfish was transferred to the Pacific Fleet and was homeported at Pearl Harbor. She was the second nuclear-powered submarine to join the fleet, after the USS Sargo. She would be assigned to Submarine Squadron 1.
In January 1960, the Swordfish made her first Western Pacific deployment; that four-month cruise was the first Western Pacific deployment made by a nuclear-powered submarine. During the deployment, President Chiang Kai-Shek of Taiwan was taken on a one-day cruise. During her second deployment to the West Pacific, in June 1960, Philippine President Carlos Garcia received a similar VIP cruise. She spent most of 1961 operating near Pearl Harbor or the west coast of the United States, but did make a two-month deployment to the Western Pacific starting in September.
When the Swordfish entered drydock at Mare Island, Calif., in January 1962, she became the first nuclear-powered submarine to undergo an overhaul on the west coast. The process took nearly nine months, with the Swordfish returning to Pearl Harbor on Sept. 29. Less than a month later, she deployed to the Western Pacific once more.
Because of her speed and ability to operate submerged quietly for long periods of time, the Swordfish was given a number of challenging and dangerous missions, many of which remain classified. In the fall of 1963, she monitored a Soviet anti-submarine warfare exercise from close enough range that the Soviets detected her presence. She was able to escape the area, however, and provided valuable information on Soviet radio activity and plots of the radar search patterns. In late 1965, she received three Navy Unit Commendations for special operations: one for the period between Oct. 8 and Dec. 3, 1963; another for the time period between Sept. 22 and Nov. 25, 1964 and the last for her duties between May 20 and July 23, 1965.
On Nov. 1, 1965, the Swordfish arrived at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard for a nuclear reactor refueling and SUBSAFE overhaul. This process lasted until the end of August 1967, and she did not return to normal duties until the beginning of 1968. On Feb. 3, 1968, she began her first Western Pacific deployment in more than two years.
During this deployment, the Swordfish became part of a continuing controversy. On March 8, 1968, Soviet Golf-II Class submarine K-129 exploded and sank northwest of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Nine days later, the Swordfish arrived at Yokosuka, Japan, for emergency repairs to fix a bent periscope. Some members of the Soviet Navy pounced on the Swordfish’s damage and claimed the K-129 was destroyed in a collision with the Swordfish; the Soviet Union (and, later, the Russian Republic), have demanded the service logs of the Swordfish multiple times, which the U.S. Navy has rejected. The Navy has said, however, that the Swordfish was 2000 miles away from the K-129 when it sank, and that their underwater sound systems picked up a “pretty loud bang,” indicating the Soviet submarine may have exploded due to a hydrogen leak or the internal explosion of a torpedo.
In May 1968, the Swordfish was the center of another controversy, when anti-nuclear activists claimed she had released radioactive coolant water into the harbor at Sasebo, Japan, during a port of call. Whether or not the release actually occurred was the subject of debate, but the Japanese government filed an official protest and said American nuclear-powered ships would not be allowed into Japanese ports unless their safety could be guaranteed.
The Swordfish deployed to the Western Pacific again from May to November, 1969, and on special operations duty from Feb. 24 to April 9, 1970. She then entered drydock for an overhaul, which lasted until the end of September. She returned to active duty early in 1971 and deployed to the Western Pacific from March 24 to Sept. 22. She would receive her final Navy Unit Commendation after this cruise, for the period between Nov. 1, 1970 and Sept. 26, 1971. Her sole Meritorious Unit Commendation came in 1969.
The Swordfish continued her routine of regular Western Pacific deployments through the Western Pacific, drawing little attention. On June 22, 1977, she was hit with one of her own Mark-14 exercise torpedoes, which malfunctioned, made an end run and slammed into the port screw. She had to return to port for a screw change, but returned to sea quickly.
In July 1979, the Swordfish was underway in the Western Pacific for a deployment when she stopped at Guam for a quick refitting. A few days after leaving, the muffler exhaust valve to her diesel engine broke, flooding it. She limped back to Guam for immediate repairs, then continued her deployment, which ended in December.
In October 1985, the Swordfish suffered a drain pump failure. A replacement was taken from her sister ship, the USS Skate, which was preparing for decommissioning. The pump was not tested before the ship went to sea, and failed to operate. Within hours, there was more than four feet of water in the engine room. The water damaged the main lube oil pump motors, starting a fire. When the ship tried to surface, the bilge water flooded the upper level of the engine room as well.
Due to the loss of shaft lube oil, the throttles to the main engines were shut. Without propulsion, the Swordfish, which was still attempting to surface, began sinking stern first. After an emergency blow, the Swordfish was able to surface successfully. The damage to the submarine’s propulsion system was substantial, however, and the nuclear reactor was ordered shut down. A tug reached the Swordfish the next morning and towed her back to Pearl Harbor, where she spent four months in drydock undergoing repairs. She would return to regular duty in 1986, making a Western Pacific cruise later in the year.
Decommissioning
The Swordfish was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on June 2, 1989. She entered the Navy’s Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, Wash., and was declared scrapped on Sept. 11, 1995.
Characteristics of the USS Swordfish
Class and type: Skate-class submarine
Displacement: 2,550 long tons (2,590 t) surfaced
2,848 long tons (2,894 t) submerged
Length: 267 ft 7 in (81.6 m)
Beam: 25 ft (7.6 m)
Speed: 15.5 knots (17.8 mph; 28.7 km/h) surfaced
18 kn (21 mph; 33 km/h) submerged
Complement: 8 officers and 76 men
Armament: • 8 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes (6 forward, 2 aft)
Career:
Name: USS Swordfish
Ordered: 18 July 1955
Builder: Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Laid down: 25 January 1956
Launched: 27 August 1957
Commissioned: 15 September 1958
Decommissioned: 2 June 1989
Struck: 2 June 1989
Fate: Submarine recycling program
Timeline:
July 1955: USS Swordfish ordered
January 1956: Keel of USS Swordfish laid down
August 1957: USS Swordfish launched
September 1958: USS Swordfish commissioned
January 1960: USS Swordfish makes first Western Pacific deployment by nuclear-powered submarine
1965: USS Swordfish awarded three Navy Unit Commendations
October 1985: USS Swordfish nearly sinks when drain pump fails
June 1989: USS Swordfish decommissioned
Crewmembers of the USS Swordfish:
An unofficial list of crew members that served on the USS Swordfish 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://www.navysite.de/ssn/ssn579.htm
Mark Toth (Served October 1976-October 1980): “A good crew, an often long workweek, some tales, on a slow approach classic boat.”
Bob McLeod (served December 1976-July 1980): “Proud to have served with you guys on the old Swordbucket.”
Matt Dixon (served January 1977-December 1983): “Seven Years on SWORDFISH – Great Memories – Without a Doubt, the Cornerstone of My Adult Life. Retired as a SWO (LCDR) in 2004. Its always great to hear from past shipmates.”
Links:
http://www.navysite.de/ssn/ssn579.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_K-129_%28Golf_II%29
