USS Billfish (SSN-676)

USS Billfish (SSN-676), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the billfish, a name used for any fish, such as gar or spearfish, with bill-shaped jaws.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Billfish.
USS Billfish (SSN-676) early in 1971 (picture taken during first sea trial).
History
United States
Name: USS Billfish (SSN-676)
Ordered: 15 July 1966
Builder: The Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down: 20 September 1968
Launched: 1 May 1970
Commissioned: 12 March 1971
Decommissioned: 1 July 1999
Stricken: 1 July 1999
Motto: Spirit of 76
Fate: Scrapping via Ship and Submarine Recycling Program completed 26 April 2000
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type: Sturgeon-class attack submarine
Displacement:
  • 3,978 long tons (4,042 t) light
  • 4,270 long tons (4,339 t) full
  • 292 long tons (297 t) dead
Length: 292 ft 3 in (89.08 m)
Beam: 31 ft 8 in (9.65 m)
Draft: 28 ft 8 in (8.74 m)
Installed power: 15,000 shaft horsepower (11.2 megawatts)
Propulsion: One S5W nuclear reactor, two steam turbines, one screw
Speed:
  • 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) surfaced
  • 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) submerged
Test depth: 1,300 feet (396 meters)
Complement: 109 (14 officers, 95 enlisted men)
Armament: 4 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes

Construction and commissioning
Billfish being launched at Groton, Connecticut, on 1 May 1970.

The contract to build Billfish was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 15 July 1966 and her keel was laid down on 20 September 1968. She was launched on 1 May 1970 sponsored by Mrs. Earle G. Wheeler, the wife of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Earle G. Wheeler (1908–1975), and commissioned on 12 March 1971 with Commander Richard M. Hughes in command.

Service history
The Mystic-class deep submergence rescue vehicle DSRV-2 Avalon aboard Billfish.

Billfish was one of the few submarines fitted to carry Mystic class deep submergence rescue vehicle during the 1980s.

Decommissioning and disposal

Billfish was decommissioned on 1 July 1999 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day. Her scrapping via the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, was completed on 26 April 2000.

Billfish pierside.

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.