USS Snook (SSN-592)

Last updated

USS Snook (SSN-592) off Rio de Janeiro in 1984.JPEG
History
Flag of the United States.svgUnited States
NameUSS Snook
Ordered18 January 1957
Builder Ingalls Shipbuilding
Laid down7 April 1958
Launched31 October 1960
Commissioned24 October 1961
Decommissioned14 November 1986
Stricken14 November 1986
FateEntered the Submarine Recycling Program on 1 October 1996
General characteristics
Class and type Skipjack-class submarine
Displacement
  • 2,830 long tons (2,880 t) surfaced
  • 3,500 long tons (3,600 t) submerged
Length251 ft 8 in (76.71 m)
Beam32 ft (9.8 m)
Draft28 ft (8.5 m)
Propulsion
  • 1 × S5W reactor
  • 2 × Westinghouse steam turbines, 15,000 shp (11 MW)
  • 1 shaft
Speed
  • 15 knots (17 mph; 28 km/h) surfaced
  • more than 30 knots (35 mph; 56 km/h) submerged
Test depth700 ft (210 m)
Complement118
Sensors and
processing systems
  • BPS-12 radar
  • BQR-12 sonar
  • BQR-2 passive sonar
  • BQS-4 (modified) active/passive sonar
Armament6 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes

USS Snook (SSN-592), a Skipjack-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the common snook, an Atlantic marine fish that is bluish-gray above and silvery below a black lateral line.

Contents

Construction and commissioning

Snook′s keel was laid down by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on 7 April 1958. She was launched on 31 October 1960, sponsored by Mrs. George L. Walling, mother of Commander John F. Walling, who was commanding officer of the first USS Snook (SS-279) when she was lost in action in World War II. Snook was commissioned on 24 October 1961 with Commander Howard Bucknell III in command.

Operational history

1960s

Following shakedown in the Puget Sound area, Snook departed San Diego, California, on 23 June 1962 to deploy as a unit of the Seventh Fleet in the western Pacific, returning home on 21 December. On 1 February 1963, the submarine entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California, for extensive improvements of her hull. After leaving Mare Island on 23 August, Snook operated in the San Diego area until deploying to the western Pacific to join the Seventh Fleet, following which she again entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard for three and one-half months of repairs and the installation of new electronic equipment.

After participating in local operations in the San Diego area, Snook departed on 19 March 1965 for a six-month deployment in the western Pacific. Highlights of this tour were calls at Sasebo, Japan, and Chinhae, South Korea. For this deployment, the Snook earned the Navy Unit Commendation. After returning to San Diego, Snook spent the next six months undergoing sound trials and drydocking, and on 16 April 1966, headed for the western Pacific. During this deployment, she visited Okinawa, Yokosuka and Sasebo, Chinhae, and Subic Bay, Philippines, before returning to San Diego on 19 November.

On 19 March 1967, Snook got underway from San Diego for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, and a 14-month overhaul and refueling. On 30 June 1968, the submarine returned to San Diego and participated in local operations, including the sinking as a target of former auxiliary submarine ex-Archerfish (AGSS-311).

Snook spent the first four months of 1969 participating in various antisubmarine warfare exercises and preparing for overseas deployment. In May, she once again departed for the western Pacific for a deployment that lasted seven months, returning home on 22 December.

1970s

Late in January 1970, Snook participated in exercise "Uptide" with other units of the First Fleet. From June through September, she was drydocked at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Following return to San Diego, the submarine sailed for a six-month deployment with the Seventh Fleet, returning to San Diego on 12 July 1971. Snook spent the remainder of the year in port and in operations off the California coast.

Operating locally in the San Diego area through the first four months of 1972, Snook got underway on 13 May for a two-month tour supporting United States forces in Vietnam and visiting Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Following drydocking at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Snook got underway on 10 January 1973 for her eighth deployment with the Seventh Fleet. During this deployment, Snook visited Pearl Harbor and Guam.

She returned to San Diego on 16 June and began a four-week, postdeployment leave and upkeep period, followed by another four weeks engaged in sonar evaluation tests. On 26 November, following her participation in COMTUEX 12-73, Snook entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard to begin a refueling overhaul.

Decommissioning

Snook was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 14 November 1986, and entered the nuclear-powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program in Bremerton, Washington, and was scrapped between 1 October 1996 and 30 June 1997.

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Truxtun</i> (CGN-35) US Navy nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser

The fifth USS Truxtun (DLGN-35/CGN-35) was a nuclear powered cruiser in the U.S. Navy. She was launched as a destroyer leader and later reclassified as a cruiser. She was named after Commodore Thomas Truxtun (1755–1822). She was in service from May 1967 to September 1995.

USS <i>Arnold J. Isbell</i> Gearing-class destroyer

USS Arnold J. Isbell (DD-869), a Gearing-class destroyer, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Arnold J. Isbell, an aircraft carrier captain during World War II. The ship was laid down on 14 March 1945 at Staten Island, New York, by Bethlehem Mariners Harbor, launched on 6 August 1945 and commissioned on 5 January 1946. Constructed too late to see action in World War II, the vessel initially served as a training ship with the United States Atlantic Fleet, before transferring to the Pacific and deploying to Korea during the Korean War and off the Vietnam coast during the Vietnam War. In 1972 Arnold J. Isbell was made part of the reserve training fleet and in 1974, sold to Greece where the ship was renamed Satchouris and served with the Hellenic Navy until being sold for scrap in 2002.

USS <i>Blueback</i> (SS-581) Submarine of the United States

USS Blueback (SS-581) is a Barbel-class submarine that served in the United States Navy from 1959 to 1990, and subsequently was made into an exhibit at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. She was the second Navy submarine to bear the name.

USS <i>Robert E. Lee</i> (SSBN-601) Submarine of the United States

USS Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601), a George Washington-class fleet ballistic missile submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Robert E. Lee (1807–1870), the commanding general of the Confederate forces during the American Civil War.

USS <i>Salmon</i> (SSR-573) Navy to be named for the salmon

USS Salmon (SSR/SS/AGSS-573), a Sailfish-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the salmon.

USS <i>Omaha</i> (SSN-692) Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine of the US Navy

USS Omaha (SSN-692), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Omaha, Nebraska. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 31 January 1971 and her keel was laid down on 27 January 1973. She was launched on 21 February 1976 sponsored by Mrs. Victoria Kuncl Hruska, wife of Senator Roman L. Hruska, and commissioned on 11 March 1978.

USS <i>Wahoo</i> (SS-565) Submarine of the United States

USS Wahoo (SS-565), a Tang-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the wahoo, a dark blue food fish of Florida and the West Indies.

USS <i>Scamp</i> (SSN-588) Submarine of the United States

USS Scamp (SSN-588), a Skipjack-class nuclear-powered submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the scamp, a member of the fish family Serranidae.

USS <i>Sculpin</i> (SSN-590) Submarine of the United States

USS Sculpin (SSN-590), a Skipjack-class nuclear-powered submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sculpin.

USS <i>Plunger</i> (SSN-595) Submarine of the United States

USS Plunger (SSN-595), a Permit-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named "plunger", meaning a diver or a daring gambler.

USS <i>Haddo</i> (SSN-604) Submarine of the United States

USS Haddo (SSN-604), a Permit-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the haddo, a pink salmon fish prevalent on the Pacific coast of the United States and Canada.

USS <i>William H. Bates</i> (SSN-680) Submarine of the United States

USS William H. Bates (SSN-680), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was planned to be the second U.S. Navy ship to be named USS Redfish—for the redfish, a variety of salmon also called blueback, sawqui, red salmon, and nerka—when the contract to build her was awarded to Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on 25 June 1968. However, upon the 22 June 1969 death of William H. Bates (1917–1969), the U.S. representative from Massachusetts's 6th congressional district (1950–1969) known for his staunch support of nuclear propulsion in the U.S. Navy, she was renamed William H. Bates and was laid down on 4 August 1969 as the only ship of the U.S. Navy to have borne the name. The reason for her naming by then-Secretary of the Navy John Chafee, breaking with a long-standing Navy tradition of naming U.S. Navy attack submarines for sea creatures, was best summed up by Admiral Hyman Rickover, the then-director of the Navy's nuclear reactors program, with the pithy comment that, "Fish don't vote!"

USS <i>Pintado</i> (SSN-672) United States submarine

USS Pintado (SSN-672), a short hull Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the pintado, a large mackerel-like fish, whose elongated spots suggested the Spanish language word meaning "painted."

USS <i>Tautog</i> (SSN-639) Submarine of the United States

USS Tautog (SSN-639), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the Tautog, a wrasse commonly found along the Northern Atlantic coast. The submarine was in service from 17 August 1968 to 31 March 1997.

USS <i>Aspro</i> (SSN-648) Submarine of the United States

USS Aspro (SSN-648) was a Sturgeon-class submarine launched in 1969 and decommissioned in 1995. Scrapping was completed in 2000.

USS <i>Drum</i> (SSN-677) Submarine of the United States

USS Drum (SSN-677), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the drum, also known as the croaker or hardhead, any of various fishes of the Sciaenidae family, capable of making a drumming noise and best known on the Atlantic coast of North America.

USS <i>Bream</i> Submarine of the United States

USS Bream (SS/SSK/AGSS-243), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the bream. She served during World War II, and her war operations extended from 1 June 1944 to 15 June 1945. During this period she completed six war patrols operating in the Java Sea, Celebes Sea, Sulu Sea, South China Sea, and Gulf of Siam. She sank two Japanese merchant ships totaling 6,934 gross register tons. In addition, Bream shared with the submarines USS Ray (SS-271) and USS Guitarro (SS-363) the destruction of a 6,806-gross register ton passenger-cargo ship. On 23 October 1944, while patrolling off western Luzon, Bream made a daring surface attack on a Japanese naval force, damaging the heavy cruiser Aoba.

USS <i>Vesuvius</i> (AE-15) Ammunition ship of the United States Navy

The fourth USS Vesuvius (AE-15) was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, Wilmington, N.C.; launched on 26 May 1944; acquired by the United States Navy on 4 July 1944; and commissioned on 16 January 1945.

USS <i>Brunswick</i> (ATS-3) Edenton-class salvage and rescue ship

USS Brunswick (ATS-3) was an Edenton-class salvage and rescue ship in the service of the United States Navy from 1972 until her decommissioning in 1996.

USS <i>Navasota</i> (AO-106) Oiler of the United States Navy

USS Navasota (AO-106) was an Ashtabula-class replenishment oiler that served in the U.S. Navy from 1946 to 1973, then transferred to the Military Sealift Command to continue service as United States Naval Ship USNS Navasota (T-AO-106) until taken out of service in 1992. Navasota was sold for scrapping in 1995. She was the only U.S. Navy ship to bear the name Navasota.

References