History of the USS Jack SSN-605

Veterans & Mesothelioma > Asbestos on Navy Ships > Submarines of the United States Navy: (Post-World War II Era) > USS Jack

USS Jack SSN-605: History, Patrols, Crews

Commissioning

The USS Jack (SSN-605; submarine, nuclear-powered) was a member of the Permit-class of nuclear attack submarines. It was the second U.S. Navy vessel, and second submarine, to carry the name of a young pike or pickerel.

The contract to build the Jack was awarded to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, on March 13, 1959. Her keel was laid on Sept. 16, 1960. She was launched on April 24, 1963 and was commissioned on March 31, 1967, with Commander Louis Urbanczyk Jr. in command.

Underway

Though officially part of the Permit class, the Jack was an experimental design. Built with an experimental direct-drive plant with counter-rotating propellers on a single shaft, the Jack was the only member of the class with such an installation. The device had been tried on several other occasions, but its first (and only) attempt in a Permit-class submarine met with disappointment. The Jack’s performance was judged inferior to other members of the class and was 20 feet longer. Due to extensive testing, her commissioning took far longer—nearly four years—to occur than other members of the Permit class.

A member of Submarine Squadron 10 based in New London, Conn., the Jack would perform its duties in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans and Mediterranean Sea with a minimum of fanfare. One of the rare times it made headlines was in 1981, when she hit the USS Trenton during a sea swell when both vessels were tied up during a port visit to Alexandria, Egypt. Both vessels were lightly damaged.

Decommissioning

The Jack was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on July 11, 1990. The submarine entered the Navy’s Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, Wash., and on June 30, 1992, was declared scrapped.

Characteristics of the USS Jack
Displacement: 3968 tons surfaced
Length: 297 ft 4 in (90.6 m)
Beam: 31 ft 7 in (9.6 m)
Draft: 25 ft 4 in (7.7 m)
Propulsion: S5W reactor
Speed: more than 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range: Complement: 95 officers and men
Armament: 4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes

Career:
Ordered: March 13, 1959
Laid down: Sept. 16, 1960
Launched: April 24, 1963
Commissioned: March 31, 1967
Decommissioned: July 11, 1990
Fate: submarine recycling
Stricken: July 11, 1990

Timeline:
March 1959: USS Jack ordered
September 1960: Keel of USS jack laid
April 1963: USS Jack launched
March 1967: USS Jack commissioned
August 1981: USS Jack damaged by collision with USS Trenton at Alexandria, Egypt
July 1990: USS Jack decommissioned

Crewmembers of the USS Jack:
An unofficial list of crew members that served on the USS Jack 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 Navysite.de.

Steve Cook (served August 1975-September 1979): “Work hard, play harder!”
Christopher Rosa (served June 1975-January 1979): “I can only say that the group I served with on the USS Jack SSN 605 were my brothers, dear friends and most of all family. We survived challenging times during our sea trials off New Hampshire and a great time in Puerto Rico.”
Don Deberry (served October 1976-August 1978): “My time aboard the Jack is a life long memory. I learned more about people, culture, music, and myself there than any other place I've been. The crew I served with was the tightest woven bunch of men I've ever served with. It was a privilege!”

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Jack_(SSN-605)
http://www.navysite.de/crew.php?action=ship&ship=SSN_605
http://www.navysite.de/ssn/ssn605.htm
http://uss-jack.org

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