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USS Skipjack (SSN 585)

USS SKIPJACK was the first ship in a series of six nuclear-powered attack submarines and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name. Both decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on April 19, 1990, the SKIPJACK later entered the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., and finished it on July 31, 1998.

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Crew List:

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

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Accidents aboard USS SKIPJACK:

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USS SKIPJACK History:

USS SKIPJACK was ordered on October 5, 1955, and laid down on May 29, 1956, at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut. She was the lead ship of the SKIPJACK-class and represented one of the central design transitions in the early nuclear submarine era. USS NAUTILUS (SSN 571) had demonstrated the endurance made possible by nuclear propulsion, while the experimental USS ALBACORE (AGSS 569) had shown the hydrodynamic value of a teardrop hull optimized for submerged performance. USS SKIPJACK combined those developments in a fleet attack submarine with nuclear propulsion, a single shaft, a streamlined hull, sail-mounted diving planes, and the Westinghouse S5W reactor plant. The result was a submarine designed primarily for underwater speed, maneuverability, and sustained submerged operation, and her arrangement influenced later American nuclear attack submarines for decades.

USS SKIPJACK was launched on May 26, 1958, sponsored by Mrs. George H. Mahon, wife of Representative George H. Mahon of Texas. During builder's trials before commissioning, she demonstrated high submerged performance, and contemporary public reporting described her as the world's fastest submarine, although her actual speed remained classified. She was commissioned at Groton on April 15, 1959, with Commander William W. Behrens Jr. in command. Her motto, "Radix Nova Tridentis", meaning "Root of the New Sea Power", reflected the Navy's view that the boat introduced a new standard for attack-submarine design.

After commissioning, USS SKIPJACK conducted initial shakedown operations in the Atlantic. In August 1959, during her shakedown cruise, she became the first nuclear-powered ship to pass through the Strait of Gibraltar and operate in the Mediterranean Sea. This was significant beyond the transit itself because the Mediterranean was one of the main Cold War naval theaters, and a nuclear-powered attack submarine able to reach that area rapidly, remain submerged for long periods, and operate independently gave the Sixth Fleet new possibilities for training and operations. After the shakedown cruise, USS SKIPJACK returned to Groton for post-shakedown availability, during which deficiencies found during early operations were corrected and the submarine was prepared for regular fleet service.

From May through July 1960, USS SKIPJACK conducted type training and participated in an advanced Atlantic submarine exercise. The exercise tested the new submarine's capabilities in a fleet environment and allowed the Navy to evaluate how a high-speed nuclear attack submarine could be used in antisubmarine warfare, screening, and tactical development. For her 1960 operations, USS SKIPJACK received a Navy Unit Commendation, and she also received the Battle Efficiency "E" for Submarine Squadron Ten for fiscal year 1960. The remainder of 1960 was spent in a restricted yard availability and upkeep period.

USS SKIPJACK began 1961 with two weeks of type training and then continued through the summer in antisubmarine warfare exercises. These exercises took place during a period of rising Cold War tension, including the Berlin crisis and a broader American effort to improve detection and tracking of Soviet submarines. During this phase she visited Mayport, Florida, before returning to Groton. Her 1961 work kept her in the Atlantic Fleet training cycle, where her speed, maneuverability, and submerged endurance were used both to test submarine tactics and to challenge the surface ships and aircraft training to locate and track modern nuclear submarines.

In January 1962, USS SKIPJACK operated out of Key West, Florida, for two weeks. She then entered Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, for an extensive overhaul lasting about four and a half months. After the overhaul, she returned to New London, Connecticut, and resumed local operations. In October 1962, as the Cuban Missile Crisis placed American and Soviet forces under intense pressure, USS SKIPJACK departed for duty in the Mediterranean with the Sixth Fleet. During this tour, she participated in fleet and NATO exercises and visited Toulon, France, and La Spezia and Naples, Italy. These port visits and exercises occurred within the broader NATO effort to maintain maritime readiness in the Mediterranean, where Soviet naval activity was becoming increasingly important and where American submarines supported both fleet training and deterrence.

The year 1963 was devoted mainly to submarine attack operations and antisubmarine warfare exercises. These activities were designed to test the practical capabilities of nuclear-powered attack submarines in realistic operating conditions. USS SKIPJACK's value in such work lay in the features that made her class distinctive: speed, submerged endurance, maneuverability, and the ability to serve either as an operational attack submarine or as a demanding target for ships and aircraft training against submarines.

In 1964, USS SKIPJACK's major publicly documented activity was two months of duty with NATO forces. She participated in Exercise Masterstroke and Exercise Teamwork and visited Le Havre, France, and Portland, England, before returning to New London in October. NATO exercises of this type were intended to improve coordination among allied naval forces in the North Atlantic and adjacent waters, with a strong emphasis on antisubmarine warfare. For USS SKIPJACK, these operations continued the pattern of using her as both an operational submarine and a platform for evaluating allied ASW procedures against a high-performance nuclear target.

USS SKIPJACK spent most of 1965 in training exercises. Late in the year she entered Charleston Naval Shipyard in South Carolina for an overhaul that lasted until October 18, 1966. This yard period kept her out of regular operations for much of 1966 and reflected the maintenance demands of early nuclear submarines after several years of intensive service. After completion of the overhaul, she got underway for sea trials off Charleston. She then joined USS SHARK (SSN 591) for four days of type training in the Jacksonville, Florida, area. After that work, USS SKIPJACK sailed to her new home port, Norfolk, Virginia, and resumed participation in Atlantic Fleet exercises.

Early in February 1967, USS SKIPJACK got underway for sonar and weapons tests. From March through June, she participated in Atlantic submarine exercises. July and August were spent in a restricted availability at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company. After that availability, she took part in FIXWEX G-67, an exercise designed to evaluate fixed-wing antisubmarine aircraft against a submarine with USS SKIPJACK's characteristics. Such exercises were important because patrol aircraft were one of the major tools used by NATO and the United States to detect and track submarines across large ocean areas. Following an extended deployment in October and November, USS SKIPJACK returned to Norfolk to prepare for major operations that she completed on February 25, 1968. The remainder of 1968 was spent in local operations in the Norfolk area.

The year 1968 also placed USS SKIPJACK's class in a difficult context. On May 22, 1968, her sister ship USS SCORPION (SSN 589) was lost in the Atlantic with all hands. Although USS SKIPJACK's own operations continued, the loss of USS SCORPION led to intensive Navy concern over submarine safety, maintenance, and the condition of the early nuclear attack-submarine force.

On April 9, 1969, USS SKIPJACK began an overhaul at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. The overhaul lasted through the fall of 1970. This long availability covered the maintenance, inspection, repair, and modernization work required to keep an early high-performance nuclear attack submarine in service. After sea trials in December 1970, USS SKIPJACK returned to regular duties.

USS SKIPJACK's major publicly documented activities in 1971 began with sound trials and weapons-system tests at the Atlantic Fleet Range near Puerto Rico from January 25 to March 5. The Atlantic Fleet Range provided controlled conditions for evaluating sonar, weapons, and submarine performance. Later in the year, from September 15 to October 9, USS SKIPJACK participated in NATO Exercise Royal Night. After that exercise, she returned to Norfolk on October 22 and remained there through January 1972. These operations continued her role in both technical evaluation and alliance training during a period when the Soviet submarine force was expanding in capability and reach.

During most of 1972, USS SKIPJACK conducted tests and type training out of New London and Norfolk and also operated in the Caribbean. She returned to Norfolk late in the year and remained in the area into 1973. Her activities during this period were part of the normal Atlantic Fleet submarine cycle: local operations, readiness work, controlled tests, and exercises designed to maintain proficiency in submerged operations and antisubmarine warfare.

Toward the end of spring 1973, USS SKIPJACK returned to the Mediterranean Sea and conducted several exercises with the Sixth Fleet. During this deployment, she was homeported at La Maddalena, Sardinia, a forward submarine support location that allowed American submarines to operate more efficiently in the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean at that time remained a key Cold War maritime theater, with NATO forces, the Soviet Mediterranean Squadron, and regional crises all shaping naval planning. USS SKIPJACK returned to Norfolk in September 1973, crossing paths with Hurricane Ellen during the Atlantic transit. After returning to Norfolk, she conducted several exercises with antisubmarine warfare aircraft operating from air bases in Virginia and North Carolina. In those exercises, USS SKIPJACK acted as an opposing submarine target. The aircraft crews were required to locate, track, and conduct simulated attacks on her under controlled conditions. Because real Soviet submarines could also have been operating in the Atlantic, the exercise included safety measures to ensure that aircraft were tracking USS SKIPJACK rather than another contact. Public accounts note that USS SKIPJACK was restricted to a defined operating box and was required to generate a unique sound signal so that ASW crews could identify her during the exercise.

At the end of 1973, USS SKIPJACK was transferred back to the submarine base at Groton in preparation for a refueling overhaul at General Dynamics Electric Boat. After completing additional exercises, she entered the shipyard in the summer of 1974. This overhaul was a major mid-life availability and kept her inactive for an extended period. The work included refueling and extensive shipyard maintenance. During this period, she also received changes associated with quieting and propulsion improvements, including replacement of her earlier propeller arrangement with a seven-bladed propeller. That modification reduced noise but also affected the performance characteristics associated with her early high-speed reputation.

USS SKIPJACK completed the overhaul and a follow-on dry docking by the summer of 1977. After a change of command, she proceeded to the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center range for shakedown and certification exercises. These post-overhaul trials were necessary to certify the submarine, her crew, and her combat systems after years in the yard. In October 1977, USS SKIPJACK deployed to the Mediterranean and returned in March 1978. The deployment restored her to forward operational service with the Sixth Fleet after the long refueling overhaul.

Later in 1978, USS SKIPJACK completed a 59-day antisubmarine warfare exercise in the northern Atlantic. During this operation, she stopped at Holy Loch, Scotland, a major support site for American ballistic-missile submarines and other U.S. Navy activities in the United Kingdom. She then made a surface transit down the Irish Sea to Plymouth, England, before returning to Groton. Late in 1978, she again deployed to the Mediterranean, returning in late spring 1979. During this period, she was awarded the Commander Submarine Squadron Two Battle Efficiency "E", reflecting performance across the squadron's competitive evaluation criteria.

From early December 1979 to mid-February 1980, USS SKIPJACK participated in NATO exercises in the North Atlantic. During this deployment, she stopped at Halifax, Nova Scotia, for Christmas 1979. The North Atlantic remained central to NATO naval planning because it was the main reinforcement route between North America and Europe and a likely area for Soviet submarine operations in any major crisis. During these operations, USS SKIPJACK encountered a major North Atlantic storm that affected the NATO fleet operating in the area. After returning to Groton in late February 1980, she soon resumed Atlantic Fleet antisubmarine warfare exercises and conducted Mark 48 torpedo qualification work in the Caribbean. During this phase, she stopped at Cocoa Beach, Florida, near Cape Canaveral, and at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. The remainder of spring 1980 was spent in short operations and a brief drydock refit at Groton.

In June 1980, USS SKIPJACK deployed to the Caribbean, the South Atlantic, and the South Pacific as part of that year's UNITAS deployment. UNITAS was the long-running series of exercises between the United States Navy and South American navies, intended to improve interoperability, antisubmarine warfare skills, and regional maritime cooperation. During UNITAS, USS SKIPJACK conducted ASW operations with ships of the Atlantic Fleet and with units of several South American navies. The deployment required her to transit the Panama Canal into the Pacific and later return. Publicly available accounts identify port calls or stops at Port Everglades, Florida; Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico; Rodman, Panama; Callao, Peru; Manta, Ecuador; Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela; Barbados; St. Kitts; and Curacao. While operating in the Caribbean, USS SKIPJACK collided with an underwater mound. After inspection by divers and a Navy inspection team, she was allowed to complete the UNITAS deployment. She returned to Groton in September 1980 and spent the rest of the year in short operations and refit work, including a short drydock period, while preparing for transfer to the Pacific Fleet for overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California.

USS SKIPJACK left for the Pacific Fleet in early December 1980, conducting antisubmarine warfare exercises during the transit. She stopped at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Rodman, Panama, before transiting onward to San Diego, California, and arriving at Mare Island in late January 1981. She spent the remainder of 1981 and part of 1982 in extensive overhaul work at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. This West Coast yard period was part of the effort to keep an aging but still operational early nuclear attack submarine in service. By the early 1980s, the SKIPJACK-class had been surpassed in many respects by later submarines, especially the STURGEON- and LOS ANGELES-classes, but USS SKIPJACK remained useful for training, exercises, and deployments compatible with her capabilities.

USS SKIPJACK remained in active Atlantic Fleet service. In 1986, she deployed on a northern run to the North Atlantic. Such deployments were consistent with NATO's continuing emphasis on the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap, North Atlantic sea-lane defense, and the tracking of Soviet submarine activity. In 1987, USS SKIPJACK deployed to the Mediterranean and returned in early September. She then entered drydock for the September-to-November period.

In early 1988, USS SKIPJACK visited St. Croix, Port Canaveral, Bermuda, and Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia. Bermuda and Halifax were connected with exercise activity. In late April 1988, while USS SKIPJACK was underway to the south, the conventionally powered submarine USS BONEFISH (SS 582) suffered a severe fire. Television news reports showed submarine footage without identifying the boat clearly, and some families of USS SKIPJACK crew members initially feared that the casualty involved USS SKIPJACK because of visual similarity in the broadcast images. USS SKIPJACK herself was not the submarine involved in that accident.

USS SKIPJACK had a change of command during the summer of 1988 and prepared for another UNITAS cruise to South America. She departed in September 1988 and visited the naval base in Puerto Rico, anchored off Caracas, Venezuela, and visited Cartagena, Colombia, before transiting the Panama Canal. During the deployment, while she was at a naval base on the Pacific side of the canal, one of her motor-generators suffered an unrepairable casualty. USS SKIPJACK left UNITAS, re-transited the Panama Canal, and returned to Groton, where she entered drydock for repairs. These late-career engineering difficulties reflected the increasing age of the submarine and the cost of maintaining early nuclear attack submarines as the Navy moved toward newer classes.

USS SKIPJACK's authorization to dive expired in March 1989, and the Navy judged that further hull inspection was not cost-effective for a submarine already scheduled for decommissioning. Shortly before that point she had been to St. Croix, and part of the return transit was conducted on the surface. From March through June 1989, she supported bridge training for students at the Submarine Officer Basic School in Groton, mostly operating up and down the Thames River and nearby waters. During one trip out of Long Island Sound, her anchor became stuck. Divers from Groton cut the anchor chain and recovered the anchor, after which USS SKIPJACK entered drydock again to have the anchor repaired.

In early July 1989, USS SKIPJACK left Groton for Norfolk. After arriving there, she provided support services for another submarine's sea trials. Following that final operational support mission, she entered the decommissioning process at Norfolk in October 1989. By then, she had served for three decades and had moved from being the Navy's prototype high-performance nuclear attack submarine to one of the oldest nuclear attack submarines still in service.

USS SKIPJACK was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on April 19, 1990. After decommissioning, ex-SKIPJACK entered the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, on March 17, 1996. Recycling was completed on September 1, 1998. Her disposal ended the material life of a submarine whose design helped define the American fast-attack submarine during the Cold War generation that followed her.

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