History of the USS Queenfish

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

USS Queenfish SSN-651: History, Patrols, Crews

Commissioning

The USS Queenfish, (SSN-651 submarine, nuclear-powered) was the ninth member of the Sturgeon class of nuclear fast attack submarines. It was the second U.S. Navy vessel named after the small food fish found off the Pacific Coast.

The Newport News (Va.) Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. received the contract to build the Queenfish on March 26, 1963. Her keel was laid on May 11, 1964 and she was launched on Feb. 25, 1966.

Underway

The first submarine designed specifically for under-ice operations, the Queenfish was commissioned on Dec. 6, 1966, with Commander Jackson B. Richard at the helm. The Queenfish was actually commissioned three months before the Sturgeon, the namesake of the class. She was assigned to the Pacific Fleet and based at Pearl Harbor. The Queenfish did not transit from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Panama Canal; instead, it went under the polar ice cap.

In 1967, the Queenfish made the first of 10 patrols to the Western Pacific, which included a period on “Yankee Station” in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam. It would win the first of three consecutive Battle “E”’s (Battle Effectiveness Awards) that year. The crew of the Queenfish would win 9 unit commendations in a 16 year period (6 Navy Unit Commendations and 3 Meritorious Unit Commendations), a record for Sturgeon-class submarines.

In 1970, the Queenfish made a second trip under the polar ice cap, surveying the ocean floor for precise maps to be used by other U.S. Navy submarines. The Queenfish would make two more trips to the North Pole, in 1985 and 1988. The final trip was to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the USS Nautilus’ surfacing at the pole and the Queenfish and two other submarines repeated the feat.

Decommissioning

The Queenfish was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Registry on April 14, 1992. It entered Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., on May 1 of the same year and was officially deemed scrapped on April 7, 1993.

Characteristics of the USS Queenfish
Displacement: 4060 tons light, tons full
Length: 89 m (292 ft)
Beam: 9.4 m (31 ft)
Draft: 7.6 m (25 ft)
Propulsion: S5W reactor
Speed: 20+ knots
Complement: 14 officers, 99 men
Armament: 4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes, SUBROC
Motto: La Reine de la Mer

Career:
Name: USS Queenfish (SSN-651)
Ordered: March 26, 1963
Laid down: May, 11 1964
Launched: Feb. 25, 1966
Commissioned: Dec. 6, 1966
Decommissioned: April 14, 1992
Fate: submarine recycling
Stricken: April, 14 1992

Timeline:
March 1963: Contract for construction of USS Queenfish awarded
May 1964: Keel laid for the USS Queenfish
February 1966: USS Queenfish launched
December 1966: USS Queenfish commissioned
1967: USS Queenfish passes under the solar ice cap
Spring 1967: USS Queenfish makes first of 10 patrols to Western Pacific
1967: USS Queenfish wins first of three consecutive “Battle ‘E’s”
1970: USS Queenfish maps the sea lanes under the polar ice cap
1988: USS Queenfish makes final trip to the North Pole
April 1992: USS Queenfish decommissioned
April 1993: USS Queenfish officially deemed scrapped

Crewmembers of the USS Queenfish:
An unofficial list of crew members that served on the USS Queenfish 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/ssn651.htm

Jeffrey Wombold (Served 1973-77): “Cheers to all the dudes; we had some good times.”
Jack Chadwick (Served March 1976-April 1980): “Four West Pacs. Arduous work. Great fun…sometimes. Longest underwater-82 days; crew ran out of peanut butter and the captain ran out of cigars.”
Dave Williams (Served 1977-March 1980): “After two West Pacs with you guys, what else is there?”
Steve Lewis (Served April 1984-May 1988): “What a great boat to be on! I made a lot of friends and have some great memories of those times.”

Sources:
http://navysite.de/ssn/ssn651.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Queenfish_(SSN-651)
http://www.queenfish.org/noframes/651.html
http://navysite.de/crew.php?action=ship&ship=SSN_651

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