Search the Site with

General Characteristics

Crew List

Memorabilia

Accidents aboard the Ship

History

Image Gallery

to end of page

USS Dolphin (AGSS 555)

USS DOLPHIN was an auxiliary research submarine and the seventh ship in the Navy to bear the name. Unofficially the "world's deepest diving submarine", the DOLPHIN spent most of her career doing acoustic and oceanographic surveys. Decommissioned in January 2007, the DOLPHIN was donated to the Maritime Museum of San Diego, Calif., on September 18, 2008, and is now open to the public. Click here for a photo tour of the DOLPHIN at San Diego, Calif.

back to top

go to the end of the page

back to top

go to the end of the page

Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS DOLPHIN. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

• Click here to view the list.

back to top

go to the end of the page

• Click here to see which USS DOLPHIN memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

back to top

go to the end of the page

Accidents aboard USS DOLPHIN:

Date	Where	Events
May 21, 2002	100 nautical miles off San Diego, Calif.	USS DOLPHIN suffers a fire and flooding at 11:30 p.m. (PDT) while operating approximately 100 miles off the coast of San Diego. The Oceanographic Research Motor Vessel McGAW was operating in the vicinity and immediately responded. The fire and flooding was beyond the ability of the crew to control, so they were evacuated by small boat to McGAW after the submarine hatches had been secured. All crew members were safely recovered with only a few minor injuries. Two crew members were recovered from the water by a US Coast Guard helicopter during the transfer. MV McGAW subsequently proceeded to San Diego with DOLPHIN's crew on board. The quick response of the crew placed the submarine in a stable condition. USS THACH (FFG 43) also arrived on scene assessing the submarine's status and the submarine support vessel MV KELLIE CHOUEST got underway from San Diego at 3:30 a.m., May 22, to assist in the recovery assessment. On May 22, the DOLPHIN was safely towed to harbor. The photo below shows the DOLPHIN during the tow.

back to top

go to the end of the page

USS DOLPHIN History:

USS DOLPHIN was conceived not as a conventional attack submarine but as a highly specialized deep-diving research and development platform intended to provide the U.S. Navy with an instrumented vessel for testing submarine structures, weapons, sensors, communications equipment, navigation systems, acoustic technologies, and other experimental concepts at depths beyond those routinely reached by operational fleet submarines. The project emerged during a period of exceptionally rapid development in undersea warfare. Nuclear propulsion, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, increasingly sophisticated sonar systems, and new antisubmarine weapons were transforming submarine operations, while the Navy was simultaneously seeking better knowledge of the deep-ocean environment and of the behavior of equipment under extreme hydrostatic pressure. DOLPHIN was therefore designed primarily as an experimental vessel rather than as the prototype for a new class of combat submarines. Her comparatively small pressure hull was built around the requirements of exceptional structural strength, experimental flexibility, and the ability to accept temporary research installations. The design deliberately minimized pressure-hull penetrations and incorporated special provisions for deep-submergence safety and emergency recovery.

The keel of DOLPHIN was laid at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Maine, on November 9, 1962. Because she was a unique vessel rather than part of a production class, construction, fitting out, system development, and modification occupied much of the 1960s. The submarine was launched into the Piscataqua River on June 8, 1968. Her sponsor was Mrs. Maggie Shinobu Inouye, wife of Senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii. DOLPHIN was commissioned at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on August 17, 1968, with Lieutenant Commander J. R. McDonnell in command. In her original configuration she was approximately 152 feet long, substantially smaller than contemporary U.S. nuclear-powered attack submarines. Her AGSS designation identified her as an auxiliary submarine, accurately reflecting the research and experimental role for which she had been built.

DOLPHIN began her sea-trial program soon after commissioning. Her first dive took place on September 27, 1968. The initial months at sea were devoted principally to demonstrating the safety and capabilities of the unusual pressure hull and to establishing the operating procedures required for progressively deeper dives. At 2:12 a.m. on November 24, 1968, DOLPHIN descended deeper than any previously documented operational submarine. The precise maximum operating depth remained classified, although the Navy later publicly acknowledged that the submarine was capable of operating below 3,000 feet. The dive demonstrated the structural capability for which DOLPHIN had been designed and opened the way for the extensive experimental program that followed. Her importance did not lie merely in reaching a record depth. More significantly, she gave the Navy a manned submarine capable of taking weapons, sensors, communications systems, and other equipment into a pressure environment that ordinary fleet submarines could not routinely reproduce.

Beginning in February 1969, DOLPHIN undertook an extensive series of weapons, sonar, fire-control, and engineering trials. Her operations included work at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center in the Bahamas, at naval test facilities in the Newport, Rhode Island, area, and in connection with Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Among the equipment investigated were sonar and fire-control systems, the submarine's experimental torpedo arrangements, and the Deep Experimental Torpedo, generally known as DExTor. During 1969, DOLPHIN established what was then a record for the deepest torpedo launch made from a submarine. The test demonstrated that submarine weapons could be launched successfully under hydrostatic conditions considerably more severe than those associated with normal fleet operations.

DOLPHIN continued torpedo-related work during the remainder of 1969. On October 7, 1969, she operated on the Newport torpedo range in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, with USS FORREST SHERMAN (DD 931) serving as a target ship for the tests. DOLPHIN's experimental role allowed engineers to investigate how torpedo systems, fire-control equipment, sonar, launch arrangements, and weapon performance changed as operating depth increased. These trials formed part of the larger Navy effort to prepare future submarine weapons and systems for increasingly demanding underwater environments.

In October 1969, DOLPHIN entered a major conversion period at Portsmouth. The work continued until August 1970 and prepared the submarine for the next phase of her experimental career. After the conversion, the Navy transferred DOLPHIN from the Atlantic to the Pacific, where a large concentration of undersea laboratories, weapons ranges, acoustic research organizations, and oceanographic facilities made Southern California particularly suitable for her mission. USS APACHE (ATF 67) departed for the Panama area on September 25, 1970 in connection with DOLPHIN's transfer. DOLPHIN subsequently passed through the Panama Canal and arrived at her new home port of San Diego in November 1970.

San Diego became the principal base for DOLPHIN for the remainder of her operational career. Unlike an attack submarine, she did not normally follow a cycle of extended overseas deployments followed by maintenance and training. Her sea periods were instead organized around individual research projects, engineering trials, equipment evaluations, acoustic experiments, oceanographic programs, and development work. Temporary scientific equipment could be installed for a particular project and removed afterward, allowing the same submarine to support widely differing programs over the course of its career. Civilian engineers, scientists, and technical specialists frequently worked with the naval crew.

One of DOLPHIN's important early Pacific assignments was a four-month scientific expedition into the Gulf of Alaska conducted in company with USS BAYA (AGSS 318) and USNS S. P. LEE (T-AGS 31). Approximately 60 scientists and technologists were involved across the three vessels. The expedition operated roughly 200 to 250 miles from Kodiak and was designed to exploit the different capabilities of the ships in acoustic and oceanographic research. DOLPHIN's ability to descend deeply into the water column was particularly useful in studying underwater sound propagation and sensor behavior at different depths. Such work had direct military importance during the Cold War because sonar performance depended heavily upon temperature layers, sound channels, bottom conditions, water depth, and other environmental factors.

Throughout the first half of the 1970s, DOLPHIN continued supporting Navy research and development programs in the Pacific. Her projects encompassed a broad range of fields, including underwater acoustics, sonar performance, submarine detection, navigation, communications, target-management techniques, deep-ocean engineering, weapons-related systems, and methods of precisely monitoring the position of experimental equipment beneath the surface. Her exceptionally deep operating capability made it possible to place experimental sensors above, within, or below oceanographic layers that could not easily be reached by ordinary fleet submarines.

DOLPHIN was photographed underway on July 30, 1974, during this period of sustained Pacific research activity. External fittings and experimental installations could change as projects came and went, and she lacked many of the design compromises required in a conventional attack submarine. She continued to operate primarily from San Diego and other Pacific test areas rather than undertaking conventional operational deployments. Her schedule therefore consisted largely of relatively short research cruises, test-range periods, equipment installation and removal, upkeep, and occasional longer voyages to areas offering particularly useful environmental conditions.

By June 1977, DOLPHIN was documented at Naval Station Kodiak, Alaska. Northern waters offered acoustic and oceanographic conditions markedly different from Southern California and provided valuable environments for the investigation of sound propagation and other underwater phenomena. By this stage, almost the entire active U.S. submarine force was nuclear-powered. DOLPHIN nevertheless remained useful precisely because her mission did not require the high sustained speed or long endurance of a nuclear submarine. Her compact size, deep-diving capability, relatively adaptable internal arrangements, and extensive instrumentation connections continued to make her valuable for experiments that would have been disruptive, expensive, or impractical aboard a front-line attack submarine.

On May 26, 1978, DOLPHIN began a regular overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Vallejo, California. The work continued into 1979 and represented an important effort to keep the unique submarine technically viable for continued research service. The overhaul was completed in June 1979. Following completion, DOLPHIN proceeded to the Pacific Northwest for acoustic trials near Fox Island, Washington, in July. These trials provided an opportunity to evaluate the submarine and her equipment in the acoustically complex environment of Puget Sound before she resumed operations from San Diego. During the remainder of 1979, DOLPHIN supported research projects associated with the Naval Ocean Systems Center and other Navy organizations involved in underwater technology.

During the early 1980s, DOLPHIN continued as one of the Navy's principal manned deep-water experimental platforms. Research performed with the submarine during this period contributed to fields that included acoustic and non-acoustic submarine detection, sonar technology, underwater communications, navigation, deep-ocean engineering, hydrodynamic investigation, and advanced sensor concepts. The Navy was particularly interested in ways of detecting increasingly quiet submarines and in reducing the probability that a submarine using active sensors would itself be detected. DOLPHIN's ability to operate under tightly controlled conditions and carry extensive instrumentation made her particularly suitable for such work.

In June 1985, DOLPHIN entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard for another major overhaul and modernization. Photographic documentation places her at the shipyard during the summer of that year and in dry-dock work during the autumn. The availability developed into an extensive regular overhaul combined with an Integrated Logistics Overhaul. Work included refurbishment of air systems, restoration of major electrical equipment, replacement of portions of the topside structure, overhaul of the steering and diving systems, work on her Type 14 periscope, and extensive updating of technical drawings and support documentation. The prolonged yard period reflected both the age of DOLPHIN and the continuing Navy requirement for a research capability that could not easily be duplicated by another submarine.

After returning to experimental service, DOLPHIN resumed work on advanced underwater technologies. Among the projects investigated during the latter 1980s were obstacle-avoidance sonar, non-acoustic submarine detection, remotely operated underwater systems, acoustic and optical techniques, hydrodynamic phenomena, and highly sensitive measurement programs.

One important line of research involved obstacle-avoidance sonar. The Applied Research Laboratories of the University of Texas developed a system intended to improve a submarine's ability to detect underwater terrain and objects ahead of it. DOLPHIN was used in trials off Santa Catalina Island, where the system was evaluated against specially prepared targets and deep-ocean transponders. Such technology was particularly relevant to submarines operating close to complex seabed terrain or at substantial depth, where traditional navigation alone could provide insufficient warning of obstacles.

DOLPHIN also supported investigations of non-acoustic antisubmarine-warfare techniques. Acoustic detection had dominated submarine warfare for decades, but Navy researchers continued to explore whether other physical effects produced by a submerged submarine could provide useful detection opportunities. Some of this work remained classified for many years. The submarine also participated in tests involving remotely operated underwater vehicles and experimental acoustic and optical systems. These programs examined the possibility of coordinating a submerged submarine with unmanned underwater equipment, an area that would become increasingly important in later decades.

Another unusual series of measurements examined extremely small physical effects that had been proposed in connection with the possible existence of an additional fundamental force of nature. DOLPHIN was useful in this type of work because her deep operating environment offered conditions in which very small variations could be measured with reduced surface interference. Such projects were secondary to her principal naval research mission but demonstrated the unusual range of experiments that could be accommodated aboard the vessel.

The end of the Cold War did not eliminate the requirement for DOLPHIN. Instead, undersea research priorities began to change. The collapse of the Soviet Union reduced the immediate emphasis on a very large Soviet nuclear submarine force, while the U.S. Navy increasingly examined operations in coastal and littoral waters. Quiet diesel-electric submarines operated by regional navies could be particularly difficult to detect in shallow or acoustically complex seas. DOLPHIN's own conventional propulsion and quiet battery-powered submerged operation made her useful for studying detection problems relevant to these emerging threats.

DOLPHIN conducted an especially productive series of experimental operations in 1991. From January 7 through January 11, she tested a Laser Line Scanning System. The equipment used blue-green laser energy to generate high-resolution optical images underwater. Because blue-green wavelengths penetrate seawater better than many other portions of the visible spectrum, the system was intended to provide underwater imagery at greater stand-off distances and altitudes than ordinary cameras could achieve.

From May 21 through May 29, 1991, DOLPHIN participated in another major optical experiment involving the Tactical Airborne Laser Communications system. The tests demonstrated two-way laser communication between a submerged submarine and an aircraft. Blue-green laser energy offered the possibility of passing information through seawater without requiring the submarine to expose a conventional radio antenna above the surface. The trials successfully demonstrated submarine-to-aircraft and aircraft-to-submarine laser communications and represented an important step in research into covert communications with submerged submarines.

Following the laser-communications trials, DOLPHIN entered a scheduled maintenance and docking period from June 5 through June 25, 1991, using USS SAN ONOFRE (ARD 30). Work included overhaul of major hull valves, installation and modification of equipment associated with the submarine's air-conditioning plant, restoration and painting of portions of the hull and superstructure, and modification of transducer mountings needed for future research projects. After leaving the dock, DOLPHIN carried out the tests necessary to verify the work. On August 29 and August 30, she conducted dives to test depth as part of the post-maintenance verification of the overhauled hull valves.

From September 16 through September 18, 1991, DOLPHIN evaluated a prototype SLS-010 side-scan sonar. During the tests, she operated at low altitude above the seabed while the equipment collected conventional side-scan and synthetic-aperture sonar information. Synthetic-aperture processing used successive acoustic observations made as the platform moved to produce imagery with substantially improved resolution. The technology had potential applications in seabed mapping, mine detection, target identification, and other missions in which locating an underwater contact was only the first step and detailed imaging was required.

The experimental tempo remained high in 1992. DOLPHIN received and tested the Deep Submergence Transponder and Interrogation System, known as DISTIS. Between February 21 and February 29, she conducted eleven dives off Mexico as part of a program designed to characterize the deep ocean as an acoustic transmission medium. Measurements obtained during these dives were intended to improve knowledge of the deep-water sound channel and support the development and modeling of future sonar systems.

During March 1992, DOLPHIN supported additional acoustic experiments in Southern California waters. Operations near San Clemente involved underwater transmissions and the use of DOLPHIN as an instrumented submerged target. Data collected during this work supported modeling and development programs associated with underwater weapons, including the Mk 48 heavyweight torpedo and Mk 50 lightweight torpedo. Additional trials were carried out in the La Jolla operating area in conjunction with civilian research vessels.

Later in March 1992, DOLPHIN participated in experiments examining the use of laser communications with an unmanned underwater vehicle. The submarine maneuvered in coordination with the remote vehicle while optical information was exchanged underwater. The project extended the laser-communications work of the previous year and investigated whether a submarine might communicate with or exercise control over an unmanned underwater system without relying solely upon acoustic transmissions or a physical cable. On April 9, 1992, Lieutenant Commander John E. Inman relieved Lieutenant Commander Charles Ormson as commanding officer and became DOLPHIN's thirteenth commanding officer.

DOLPHIN continued through the middle of the 1990s with experimental work involving sonar, acoustic propagation, submarine detection, underwater communications, imaging, and the evaluation of new sensor concepts. Her external fittings and internal experimental spaces were repeatedly modified as individual research installations were fitted and subsequently removed. This constant process of reconfiguration was a defining feature of her career and distinguished her from operational submarines whose combat systems were normally standardized for long periods.

By 1996, DOLPHIN was operating under the operational control of Submarine Development Squadron Five and remained homeported at San Diego. Commander Joseph P. Peterson was commanding officer. During February and March, she conducted fast-cruise preparations, independent steaming exercises, and other readiness evolutions. Between March 10 and March 15, DOLPHIN participated in Joint Task Force Exercise 96-1. Personnel transfers were conducted while the submarine was in San Diego Harbor on March 13, and another independent steaming exercise followed on March 25.

A notable 1996 assignment involved the wreck of ex-USS AGERHOLM (DD 826). From July 8 through July 11, DOLPHIN conducted a search for the former destroyer, which had been sunk as a target on July 18, 1982. The submarine successfully located the wreck and used an underwater camera system to obtain imagery of it. The operation demonstrated the practical value of the sonar, navigation, and deep-water imaging technologies that DOLPHIN had spent years helping to develop. It also illustrated how equipment intended primarily for military research could be applied to precise deep-ocean search and identification tasks.

Through the late 1990s, DOLPHIN increasingly supported technologies relevant to littoral antisubmarine warfare. The Navy was particularly interested in improving the ability to find quiet diesel-electric submarines in coastal environments characterized by high background noise, irregular seabeds, strong acoustic reflections, and complex water conditions. DOLPHIN's own quiet conventional propulsion made her a particularly appropriate platform for research into these problems.

DOLPHIN maintained a detailed experimental schedule during 1999. She conducted independent steaming exercises from January 11 through January 13 and underwent an Underway Material Inspection on January 20 and January 21. From January 25 through January 29, she supported Littoral Airborne Sensor-Hyperspectral operations. From February 10 through February 16, she conducted preparatory work associated with the Advanced Deployable System during Multi-Node Testing, followed by an Engineering Readiness Examination on February 22 and February 23. An upkeep period extended from February 25 through March 24.

From April 13 through April 17, 1999, DOLPHIN participated in fleet evaluation testing of the Advanced Deployable System. From April 20 through April 23, she supported Fleet Battle Exercise activities that included Telesonar and Sublink 99 work as well as a navigation evaluation. The combination of these projects reflected the broad technical scope of her mission late in her career, when she was being used to evaluate sensors, distributed underwater systems, communications equipment, and technologies intended to improve detection and information exchange in complex coastal environments.

Later in 1999, DOLPHIN conducted a substantial Pacific coast operating period. On August 26 and August 27, she transited from the Nanoose operating area in British Columbia to Esquimalt, Canada. She remained at Esquimalt from August 28 through September 2. From September 3 through September 6, she proceeded south to Newport, Oregon, where she stopped on September 7. Additional operations continued through September 18. DOLPHIN was at Coos Bay, Oregon, on September 19 before beginning the return voyage to San Diego, which continued through September 27. A post-deployment stand-down followed from September 28 through October 16.

On October 22, 1999, Commander Stephen Z. Kelety relieved Commander Gerald F. Nies as commanding officer. Much of November was occupied by upkeep. DOLPHIN returned to sea from December 6 through December 10 for operations associated with TENCAP-related work before beginning the end-of-year stand-down.

By the beginning of the twenty-first century, DOLPHIN was the last operational diesel-electric submarine in the U.S. Navy and one of the oldest commissioned submarines still in active service. Her value nevertheless remained practical rather than ceremonial. Across more than three decades, she had supported investigations into deep torpedo employment, sonar, underwater acoustics, submarine detection, communications, obstacle avoidance, remotely operated systems, optical imaging, laser communication, synthetic-aperture sonar, deep-ocean navigation, and littoral antisubmarine warfare.

That career nearly ended during a serious casualty on the night of May 21, 2002. DOLPHIN was operating on the surface approximately 100 nautical miles off San Diego and was recharging her batteries. Forty-three people were aboard: 41 US Navy sailors and two civilian Navy employees. Weather conditions had deteriorated, with strong winds and seas approximately 10 to 11 feet high. At about 11:30 p.m. seawater began entering the submarine through the area of a torpedo shield door after failure of its sealing arrangement. Flooding increased rapidly. Seawater reached electrical equipment, causing short circuits and fires while the crew simultaneously attempted to control the flooding and maintain the submarine's stability. The casualty was particularly serious because DOLPHIN was a comparatively small submarine with limited reserve buoyancy. The crew had to fight both progressive flooding and electrical damage while ensuring that essential pumping arrangements continued to operate.

Chief Machinist's Mate John D. Wise Jr. entered the flooded pump room, where the remaining breathable space was extremely restricted, to ensure that the necessary valves were properly aligned and that dewatering could continue. Debris repeatedly threatened the pumping arrangements, requiring further work in the flooded space. His actions helped maintain the submarine's pumping capability during the casualty, and he was subsequently awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal.

As conditions worsened, the decision was made to evacuate most of the personnel aboard. The oceanographic vessel M/V WILLIAM A. McGAW responded to the emergency and received personnel from DOLPHIN. Two sailors who entered the water during the evacuation were recovered by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter. USS THACH (FFG 43) also responded, and M/V KELLIE CHOUEST departed San Diego to provide assistance. All 43 people aboard DOLPHIN survived the casualty, with only minor injuries reported. The submarine was stabilized, recovered, and subsequently returned to San Diego.

The seriousness of the May 2002 flooding raised the question of whether a submarine commissioned in 1968 should be repaired at all. The Navy nevertheless determined that DOLPHIN still offered research capabilities that could not be duplicated economically by another manned submarine and approved an extensive restoration and modernization program. The work ultimately lasted about three and a half years and cost approximately $50 million.

The repair effort went considerably beyond restoring the damage from the flooding. By 2003, DOLPHIN was undergoing extensive modernization and conducted no underway operations during the year. Among the significant changes was installation of a Valve Regulated Lead Acid battery, the first installation of that battery technology in a U.S. submarine. New DC distribution switchboards were installed, together with a new radar and other electrical and control-system improvements. An Emergency Hatch Closure Device was added, and several modifications were introduced directly in response to lessons learned during the 2002 casualty. The work thus returned DOLPHIN to service in a materially improved condition rather than simply restoring her previous configuration.

DOLPHIN completed the long repair and modernization process in 2005 and returned to sea for trials during the summer. On November 18, 2005, Commander Andrew C. Wilder relieved Commander Edward L. Hasell as commanding officer during a ceremony in San Diego. Training, certification, emergency drills, and final technical work continued as the submarine was prepared to resume research operations after more than three years away from normal sea duty.

During 2006, DOLPHIN again conducted operational research and training periods from San Diego. On July 14, she returned to her home port after an underway exercise period, demonstrating that the extensive post-casualty restoration had successfully returned the submarine to useful operating condition. Nevertheless, maintaining a one-of-a-kind diesel-electric research submarine approaching 40 years of age had become increasingly difficult and expensive. Virtually every major system required specialized support, spare parts were unique, and engineering knowledge applicable to the vessel was becoming progressively harder to sustain.

The Navy therefore decided to retire DOLPHIN. Her final period at sea took place in September 2006. On September 9, she completed her last cruise and returned to San Diego after making her 1,560th and final dive. During that dive, DOLPHIN again descended beyond 3,000 feet, bringing her submerged operating career to an end almost 38 years after her initial dive on September 27, 1968. DOLPHIN was deactivated on September 22, 2006. She remained formally commissioned while the Navy completed the administrative and material procedures associated with her retirement. On January 15, 2007, she was officially decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register. At the time, she was the last operational diesel-electric submarine in the U.S. Navy and had served far longer than would normally have been expected of a unique experimental vessel commissioned in the late 1960s.

The submarine was subsequently selected for preservation rather than immediate disposal. In September 2008, DOLPHIN was transferred to the Maritime Museum of San Diego, the city that had served as her principal home port for most of her operational career. Preparation followed to make the unique research submarine accessible to the public, and on July 4, 2009 DOLPHIN opened as a museum vessel on San Diego Bay.

back to top

go to the end of the page

USS DOLPHIN Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by me and show the decommissioned DOLPHIN laid-up at Point Loma, Calif., on March 11, 2008.

The photos below were taken by me and show the DOLPHIN at San Diego, Calif., as part of the San Diego Maritime Museum. The photos were taken on March 24, 2010.

			Click here for more photos.

back to top

Back to Submarines list.

Back to ships list.

Back to selection page.

Back to 1^st page.