USS Narwhal (SSN-671)

USS Narwhal (SSN-671), a unique submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the narwhal, a gray and white arctic whale with a unicorn-like, ivory tusk.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Narwhal.
USS Narwhal (SSN-671)
History
United States
Namesake: Narwhal
Ordered: 28 July 1964
Builder: General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down: 17 January 1966
Launched: 9 September 1967
Commissioned: 12 July 1969
Decommissioned: 1 July 1999
Stricken: 1 July 1999
Fate: Cut up for scrap at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
General characteristics
Class and type: Nuclear submarine
Displacement:
  • 4,948 long tons (5,027 t) light
  • 5,293 long tons (5,378 t) full
  • 345 long tons (351 t) dead
Length: 314 ft (95.7 m)
Beam: 33 ft (10 m)
Draft: 31 ft (9.4 m)
Propulsion: S5G reactor
Complement: 12 officers, 95 enlisted
Armament:

Her keel was laid down on 17 January 1966 by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation, in Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 9 September 1967 sponsored by Glynn R. Donaho, and commissioned on 12 July 1969 with Commander W. A. Matson in command.[1]

Design

Very little of the Narwhal's design was based on the Sturgeon-class submarine. Being a unique design she was her own class. Her power plant, engine room, and forward compartment layout were unlike any other U.S. submarine. Forward of her reactor compartment the crew enjoyed more available space and berthing than her Thresher/Permit, Sturgeon, or Los Angeles-class sisters. Access aft was provided by two separate reactor tunnels, each with their own water-tight doors. Her engine room was spacious and well laid out.

Elements of her propulsion were incorporated in later ship classes, especially the Ohio class, but no other submarine has used all of Narwhal's innovations. These innovations included a natural circulation reactor plant, scoop seawater injection (which was not repeated), the ability to cross connect main and auxiliary seawater systems, and a directly coupled main engine turbine. Her small reactor coolant pumps had two speeds: On and Off. The result was the quietest submarine of her era, and for many years to follow. Her silence was equaled only by the Ohio class and finally surpassed by the Seawolf class.

Narwhal was fitted with a "turtleback" structure just forward of her rudder that may have been used for remote-controlled underwater vehicles, or for housing an experimental towed sonar array.

Career

Little information about Narwhal's career is available, but it was eventful and included a very heavy deployment rate interrupted only by three overhauls (two involving reactor refueling). Narwhal had few difficulties in Arctic waters, easily shadowing Soviet vessels. Those deployments earned Narwhal a Navy Unit Commendation for a 1972 deployment, and Meritorious Unit Commendations for operations in 1971, 1977, 1979, 1994, and 1998. She also earned the Battle Efficiency E (five awards), the Engineering E (four awards), and the Anti-Submarine Warfare A, the Communications C, and the Supply E. She may have also been used for special operations duty.

Narwhal sustained minor damage on 22 September 1989 when Hurricane Hugo hit Charleston, South Carolina. She was moored with nine double wires and two three-inch ship's lines in preparation for the storm. All but one of the lines parted during the first half of the storm, and she drifted into the Cooper River. Tugboats and Narwhal's crew tried unsuccessfully to move the submarine back to the pier before the second half of the storm. As the storm resumed, Narwhal submerged in the river and rode out the remainder of the hurricane with only part of her sail exposed.[2]

In 1993, Navigator Harley O'Neill organized a reunion with the original 167 Narwhal crew from WWII. While there were three generations of Narwhal Submarines, (67, 167 and 671), over a single weekend, O'Neill managed to host and entertain both the 2nd generation as well as the third generation Narwhal crew onboard as the special guests to his Capt. Lincoln and his command.

Narwhal was deactivated, while still in commission, on 16 January 1999 in Norfolk, Virginia. She was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 July 1999, and entered the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program (NPSSRP) in Bremerton, Washington on 1 October 2001. Over the next five years, efforts were made to make Narwhal the centerpiece of a planned National Submarine Science Discovery Center (NSSDC) in Newport, Kentucky.[3] Legislation signed on 30 September 2003 authorized the Secretary of the Navy to transfer Narwhal to the NSSDC. The nuclear reactor and propulsion equipment would be removed and replaced with a plug of the proper dimensions and shape, containing a theater and classroom.[3] However, on 26 April 2006, Peter Kay, board chair of the NSSDC, announced the cancellation of the exhibit, as fundraising had only raised $0.5 million of the $2 million needed.[4] The boat was subsequently dismantled by October 2020 per the Navy's Ship-Submarine Recycling Program.[5]

References
  1. "Narwhal". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 2004-01-29. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  2. "A U.S. Navy Nuclear Submarine Once Submerged In A River To Ride Out A Hurricane". The Drive.com. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  3. Tom Schram (Summer 2004). "Teaching Science Using Submarine Technology and the ex-USS Narwhal (SNN-671)". United States Navy. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  4. Kreimer, Peggy; O'Neill, Tom (27 April 2006). "Submarine not coming to Newport". The Cincinnati Post. E. W. Scripps Company. p. A2. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
  5. Farley, Josh. "Saying goodbye to 'Narwhal,' a submarine whose stealth changed the Navy". Kitsap Sun.
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