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USS Snook (SSN 592)

The sixth and final SKIPJACK - class nuclear-powered attack submarine, the USS SNOOK was the second ship in the Navy to be named after the robalo of the Atlantic that is bluish-gray above and silvery below a black lateral line and attains a length of about four feet and a weight from 15 to 20 pounds. Both decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on November 14, 1986, SNOOK entered the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., on October 1, 1996. Recycling was completed on June 30, 1997.

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Crew List:

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

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Accidents aboard USS SNOOK:

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USS SNOOK History:

USS SNOOK was ordered on January 18, 1957, and laid down on April 7, 1958, at Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was a SKIPJACK-class nuclear-powered attack submarine and the second completed and commissioned United States Navy ship to bear the name Snook. The name referred to the common snook, an Atlantic marine fish, but in the Navy it also carried the memory of USS SNOOK (SS 279), the GATO-class submarine lost in the western Pacific in April 1945 during the final months of World War II. The new nuclear-powered USS SNOOK belonged to the first generation of high-performance American nuclear attack submarines that combined the submerged hull-form lessons of USS ALBACORE (AGSS 569) with the endurance of the Westinghouse S5W reactor plant. As the sixth and final boat of the SKIPJACK-class, USS SNOOK represented the end of a short but influential design line: a streamlined hull, a single shaft, sail-mounted diving planes, six bow torpedo tubes, and an operating concept centered on sustained submerged speed, maneuverability, and long-range Cold War operations.

USS SNOOK was launched on October 31, 1960. Her sponsor was Mrs. George L. Walling, mother of Commander John F. Walling, who had commanded the wartime USS SNOOK when that submarine was lost. The connection between sponsor and name gave the launching a direct link to the earlier submarine and her crew. After fitting out at Pascagoula, USS SNOOK was commissioned on October 24, 1961, with Commander Howard Bucknell III in command. By the time she entered service, the United States Navy's nuclear submarine force was still small but expanding quickly. Nuclear propulsion had already changed the practical meaning of submarine endurance, and the Navy was learning how to use fast nuclear attack submarines for antisubmarine warfare, fleet exercises, intelligence-related missions, and forward operations in both the Atlantic and Pacific.

After commissioning, USS SNOOK carried out shakedown and early training in the Puget Sound area. These first months tested her propulsion plant, sonar, weapons systems, diving characteristics, maneuverability, communications, and crew proficiency. They also introduced the crew to the demanding routines of an early nuclear submarine at a time when many operating procedures were still being refined by experience. Her home port was San Diego, California, and from there she entered the Pacific Fleet operating cycle that would define most of her active career.

On June 23, 1962, USS SNOOK departed San Diego for her first deployment to the western Pacific as a unit of the Seventh Fleet. This first deployment came during a period of intense Cold War competition in East Asia. The United States maintained large naval forces in the western Pacific to support treaty allies, respond to crises around Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, and monitor Soviet and Chinese military activity. For a nuclear-powered attack submarine, the deployment was also part of the Navy's continuing effort to integrate fast SSNs into forward operations and antisubmarine warfare training. USS SNOOK returned to San Diego on December 21, 1962, after completing that first Seventh Fleet tour.

On February 1, 1963, USS SNOOK entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California, for extensive improvements to her hull. She remained there until August 23. After leaving the yard, she operated in the San Diego area, then deployed again to the western Pacific to join the Seventh Fleet. After the deployment, she again entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard for three and one-half months of repairs and installation of new electronic equipment. This work reflected the fast pace of technical change in the early nuclear submarine force, where sonar, fire-control, electronic support, and communications systems were regularly improved as the Navy learned from operating experience.

After completing that yard period, USS SNOOK resumed local operations in the San Diego area. On March 19, 1965, she departed for a six-month deployment to the western Pacific. During this deployment she operated with the Seventh Fleet and made port calls at Sasebo, Japan, and Chinhae, South Korea. The deployment occurred during the year in which the Vietnam War expanded sharply after the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the introduction of larger American combat forces into Southeast Asia. For this deployment, USS SNOOK earned the Navy Unit Commendation.

After returning to San Diego, USS SNOOK spent the next six months in sound trials and drydocking. Such work was essential for a nuclear attack submarine: sonar performance, acoustic condition, hull condition, and propulsion reliability all had direct operational value, especially for a class built around speed and submerged performance. On April 16, 1966, she again headed for the western Pacific. During this deployment, she visited Okinawa, Yokosuka and Sasebo, Japan, Chinhae, South Korea, and Subic Bay in the Philippines. These ports formed a familiar Seventh Fleet support network. Subic Bay was the major American naval base in the Philippines; Yokosuka and Sasebo were key facilities in Japan; Okinawa provided a forward operating area near the East China Sea and Taiwan Strait approaches; and Chinhae reflected allied naval cooperation with South Korea. USS SNOOK returned to San Diego on November 19, 1966.

On March 19, 1967, USS SNOOK got underway from San Diego for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Washington, where she entered a fourteen-month overhaul and refueling period. The overhaul removed her from the operating schedule during a period when submarine safety, hull integrity, reactor reliability, and acoustic performance were central concerns across the Navy's nuclear submarine force. This was also the period after the loss of USS THRESHER (SSN 593), when submarine maintenance and safety programs were receiving increased attention. Refueling renewed the reactor core, while the overhaul provided an opportunity for hull, mechanical, electrical, sonar, weapons, and habitability work after several demanding Pacific deployments.

USS SNOOK returned to San Diego on June 30, 1968. She then participated in local operations, including the sinking as a target of the former auxiliary submarine ex-ARCHERFISH (AGSS 311) on October 19, 1968. That sinking reflected the Navy's practice of using retired submarines as targets for weapons testing and training, providing realistic data and practical experience while removing obsolete hulls from the inactive inventory. For USS SNOOK, the event also marked a return to operational work after her long refueling overhaul.

During the first four months of 1969, USS SNOOK participated in antisubmarine warfare exercises and prepared for another overseas deployment. In May 1969, she again departed for the western Pacific. The deployment lasted seven months and ended with her return to San Diego on December 22, 1969. This deployment took place at a time when the Vietnam War remained the main visible focus of American operations in the western Pacific, while the broader undersea competition with the Soviet Navy continued to shape submarine training and patrol patterns. USS SNOOK returned to San Diego at the end of the year.

Late in January 1970, USS SNOOK participated in Exercise Uptide with other units of the First Fleet. First Fleet exercises off the West Coast were designed to maintain readiness, test tactics, and improve coordination among submarines, surface ships, and aircraft. From June through September 1970, USS SNOOK was drydocked at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. After returning to San Diego, she sailed for another six-month deployment with the Seventh Fleet. This deployment continued into 1971 and ended with her return to San Diego on July 12, 1971. She spent the remainder of 1971 in port and in operations off the California coast.

During the first four months of 1972, USS SNOOK operated locally in the San Diego area. On May 13, 1972, she got underway for a two-month tour supporting United States forces in Vietnam and visited Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The timing was significant. In March 1972, North Vietnam had opened the Easter Offensive, a major conventional campaign that led to intensified American air and naval operations. Seventh Fleet forces were heavily involved in supporting American and South Vietnamese military requirements, and submarines formed part of the wider naval presence in the region. USS SNOOK's deployment was shorter than her earlier western Pacific cruises, but it placed her directly within the operational framework of the late Vietnam War. After this tour, she underwent drydocking at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

On January 10, 1973, USS SNOOK got underway for her eighth deployment with the Seventh Fleet. During this deployment, she visited Pearl Harbor and Guam. The deployment occurred during the period in which the Paris Peace Accords were signed and the United States was ending its direct combat role in Vietnam, but American naval forces remained active throughout the western Pacific. Guam was an important forward support and logistics location, while Pearl Harbor served as a major Pacific transit and submarine support point. USS SNOOK returned to San Diego on June 16, 1973, and began a four-week post-deployment leave and upkeep period. That was followed by another four weeks of sonar evaluation tests. On November 26, 1973, after participating in COMTUEX 12-73, she entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard to begin a refueling overhaul.

The overhaul at Mare Island removed her from normal operations while her reactor plant and ship systems were renewed for continued service. In the mid-1970s, the Navy was keeping several first-generation nuclear attack submarines operational even as newer STURGEON-class submarines and later LOS ANGELES-class submarines were entering service. Refueling and modernization allowed older boats such as USS SNOOK to continue contributing to training, deployments, and operational commitments, though their design was no longer at the leading edge of submarine technology.

On April 23, 1975, USS SNOOK became entangled in the net of a probable Soviet fishing trawler while submerged at a depth of about 150 feet in a submarine diving area roughly thirty miles off San Francisco, California. The submarine was pulled upward to periscope depth before freeing herself and clearing the area. The incident occurred during a period when Soviet fishing vessels, intelligence collectors, and naval units were frequently present near areas of American naval activity.

During 1977, USS SNOOK was involved in an incident with USS SCULPIN (SSN 590) after a post-overhaul operating period. Later crew-based summaries of USS SCULPIN describe USS SNOOK as striking USS SCULPIN while attempting to moor nearby alongside a submarine tender. USS SNOOK reportedly suffered damage to her bow torpedo tube outer doors and required several weeks in drydock for repairs, forcing USS SCULPIN to assume part of the operating schedule.

In the late 1970s, USS SNOOK continued active service from the Pacific Fleet structure. She underwent overhaul at Mare Island and then shifted home port from San Diego to Groton, Connecticut. This transfer placed her in the Atlantic Fleet submarine force after many years centered on the Pacific and western Pacific. The move was part of the broader redistribution and continued use of older nuclear attack submarines as the Navy balanced operational requirements between the Pacific, Atlantic, Mediterranean, and South American exercise circuits. Once based on the East Coast, USS SNOOK became available for Atlantic, Mediterranean, North Atlantic, and UNITAS operations.

In the early 1980s, USS SNOOK operated within this Atlantic Fleet framework. A Mediterranean deployment in 1982 is reflected in contemporary memorabilia and later summaries. In 1984, USS SNOOK participated in UNITAS XXV, the twenty-fifth iteration of the long-running exercise series between the United States Navy and South American navies. UNITAS exercises were designed to improve interoperability, communications, antisubmarine warfare procedures, and regional naval cooperation. Nuclear-powered attack submarines were valuable in UNITAS because they provided South American surface ships and aircraft with a realistic, demanding submarine target while also giving the U.S. Navy experience in varied waters and with allied partners. On June 1, 1984, USS SNOOK was photographed entering port at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during UNITAS XXV. That image confirms her participation in the South American exercise route and provides one of the clearest publicly documented late-career port visits for the submarine.

After UNITAS XXV, USS SNOOK continued service into the mid-1980s. By this time, the SKIPJACK-class was among the oldest nuclear-powered attack-submarine classes still active. The class had introduced a major design standard in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but by the mid-1980s its members lacked the quieting, sensors, combat-system sophistication, and growth margin of later submarines. USS SNOOK nevertheless remained operational long enough to participate in late Cold War exercises and deployments before being selected for retirement.

USS SNOOK was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on November 14, 1986. Her commissioned service had lasted just over twenty-five years. After decommissioning, ex-SNOOK entered the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, on October 1, 1996. Recycling was completed on June 30, 1997.

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