Search the Site with

General Characteristics

Crew List

Memorabilia

Accidents aboard the Ship

History

to end of page

USS Tullibee (SSN 597)

USS TULLIBEE was specially designed as a quiet hunter-killer for use in narrow waters. TULLIBEE, the second ship in the Navy to bear the name, was the Navy's first submarine to be equipped with the BQQ-2 Sonar system. New was also the installation of the system in the submarine's bow nose which made it necessary to move the torpedo tubes aft of the bow.

Both decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on June 18, 1988, the TULLIBEE entered the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., in January 1995. Recycling of the TULLIBEE was finished on April 1, 1996.

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 TULLIBEE. 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 TULLIBEE memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

back to top

go to the end of the page

Accidents aboard USS TULLIBEE:

back to top

go to the end of the page

History of USS TULLIBEE:

USS TULLIBEE was laid down on 26 May 1958 at Groton, Conn., by the Electric Boat Div. of the General Dynamics Corp.; launched on 27 April 1960; sponsored by Mrs. John F. Davidson, the widow of Comdr. Charles F. Brindupke; and commissioned on 9 November 1960, Comdr. Richard S. Jortberg in command.

Following her shakedown in January 1961, TULLIBEE engaged in sonar evaluations and nuclear submarine tactical exercises with Submarine Developmental Group 2, operating out of New London, Conn., into 1963. During this period, the ship visited Bermuda on several occasions, as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In July 1964, TULLIBEE participated in fleet exercises in antisubmarine warfare (ASW) tactics with NATO units. The submarine resumed developmental work in 1965 and operated in this capacity into the fall of that year. On 28 October, her home port was temporarily changed to Portsmouth, N.H., when the ship entered the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, for an extensive overhaul. She remained in drydock for 754 days, emerging on 2 January 1968.

Shifted back to New London, TULLIBEE deployed to the Caribbean Sea in January 1969 following refresher training and continued developmental work during 1969 and 1970.

On 1 August 1970, TULLIBEE departed New London, bound for the Mediterranean and the ship's first service with the 6th Fleet. During this period, she took part in NATO and 6th Fleet exercises and made port visits to Athens, Greece; Naples, Italy and Rota, Spain, before returning to New London on 14 December, having travelled some 20,000 miles in 135 days.

In early 1971, the submarine returned to developmental exercises once more to work on SSN tactics and also made a port visit to Cape Canaveral, Fla. Participating in a major NATO exercise in the western Atlantic, TULLIBEE visited Halifax, Nova Scotia, before she received the Meritorious Unit Commendation for her contingency operations in the Mediterranean during the previous year (from 9 September to 31 October 1970). For the remainder of the year 1971, TULLIBEE operated in the western Atlantic on NATO and ASW exercises. During this period, too, TULLIBEE received the Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy for significant improvement in the ship's battle efficiency and readiness for that fiscal year.

The submarine conducted regular operations with the Atlantic Fleet Submarine Force into 1974, operating off the east coast and in the Caribbean. Following one Caribbean cruise in the fall of 1974, TULLIBEE departed New London on 28 April 1975 for her second deployment to the 6th Fleet. After operating in the Mediterranean into the fall of that year, the submarine returned to New London in October for an extended period of upkeep.

TULLIBEE subsequently participated in sonar evaluation tests with destroyer HMS MATAPAN (D 43) in the Caribbean in two separate deployments between April and June 1976, before undergoing another extended upkeep period. The TULLIBEE conducted ASW operations and local operations into the fall of 1976, before she departed New London on 12 November for her third Mediterranean deployment. After serving in the 6th Fleet into the spring of 1977, she returned to her home port on 24 April. During the remainder of the year, TULLIBEE underwent three upkeep periods interspersed with ASW exercises off the east coast of the United States. The early months of 1978 were spent in preparation for her fourth Mediterranean deployment. Departing New London in March, the submarine conducted operations with various units of the 6th Fleet. The deployment was marred somewhat by a propulsion casualty which necessitated a two-month repair period spent at Rota, Spain. TULLIBEE returned to New London on 30 August. Operations out of that port took TULLIBEE into 1979.

On 24 July 1979, Commander Daniel J. Koczur relieved as the eighth commanding officer of USS TULLIBEE. His assumption of command came shortly before the submarine entered the longest yard period of her career. In August 1979, USS TULLIBEE entered Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Maine, for her third and final major overhaul. The shipyard period lasted until October 1982, a total of approximately thirty-nine months. This overhaul removed the submarine from operational service for more than three years. It took place while the United States Navy was sustaining older nuclear submarines and bringing more capable LOS ANGELES-class attack submarines into the fleet. For USS TULLIBEE, the overhaul was essential because her specialized machinery, sonar systems, weapons arrangement, and compact internal spaces required extensive maintenance after years of Atlantic, Caribbean, and Mediterranean service.

The Portsmouth overhaul also took place during renewed Cold War naval emphasis. The Soviet Navy had expanded its submarine force and improved its long-range deployments through the 1970s, while the North Atlantic Treaty Organization placed increasing emphasis on antisubmarine warfare in the North Atlantic, Norwegian Sea, Mediterranean, and western approaches. Although USS TULLIBEE herself remained in the yard, the kind of work for which she had been built - quiet submarine detection, sonar evaluation, and antisubmarine tactics - remained central to American and allied naval planning. Her overhaul renewed her ability to contribute to those missions, even as newer submarines increasingly carried the main burden of fleet operations.

USS TULLIBEE completed the overhaul in October 1982. The remaining months of 1982 were spent in operations that provided refresher training for the crew and allowed the submarine to return gradually to the operating cycle. After a long overhaul, the crew had to requalify watch sections, rebuild underway routines, test ship-control and propulsion systems, verify sonar and weapons performance, and regain the coordinated proficiency required for submerged operations.

On 26 April 1983, Commander David W. Candler relieved as the ninth commanding officer of USS TULLIBEE. His command began during a difficult post-overhaul period. Between April 1983 and February 1984, propulsion-system difficulties on two occasions required the submarine to return to New London for repairs. These incidents reflected the maintenance burden carried by an older, one-of-a-kind nuclear submarine with a turbo-electric propulsion system different from the direct-drive arrangements used in most American nuclear-powered attack submarines.

During 1983 and 1984, USS TULLIBEE remained in the Atlantic Fleet operating cycle. By this time she was the smallest nuclear-powered attack submarine in the fleet and one of the most specialized. Her operational value lay less in speed than in quietness, sonar work, and antisubmarine warfare employment. In the larger strategic setting, the early 1980s were marked by renewed Cold War tension, increased naval deployments, and allied concern over Soviet submarine operations in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. USS TULLIBEE's continued use reflected the Navy's desire to keep available submarine hulls active and to exploit her particular antisubmarine warfare characteristics.

In April 1985, USS TULLIBEE conducted certification inspections of the propulsion plant and weapons systems. These inspections were an important step in confirming whether the submarine remained suitable for further operational service after her long overhaul and subsequent propulsion difficulties. Certification of the engineering plant and weapons systems was especially important for a submarine preparing for another extended deployment. In October 1985, USS TULLIBEE received the Submarine Squadron Two departmental Communications Green "C" Award for communications excellence.

In November 1985, USS TULLIBEE departed New London for her fifth and final extended deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. This was her last major overseas cruise. While deployed, she conducted several antisubmarine warfare operations for Commander Sixth Fleet and participated in a major North Atlantic Treaty Organization antisubmarine warfare exercise. The deployment placed her once again in a region where the United States, allied navies, the Soviet Navy, and regional states interacted in a complex maritime environment. The Mediterranean of 1985 and 1986 was not only a Cold War operating area but also a theater shaped by tensions with Libya, instability in the Middle East, and the continuing American practice of challenging excessive maritime claims through freedom-of-navigation operations.

During this final Mediterranean deployment, USS TULLIBEE was assigned to the Sixth Fleet during freedom-of-navigation operations involving combat between Sixth Fleet units and Libyan forces. The broader crisis centered on Libya's claim to the Gulf of Sidra and the United States position that those waters included international waters open to lawful navigation and military exercise. In early 1986, the Sixth Fleet conducted operations challenging the Libyan claim. The confrontation escalated in March 1986 when Libyan forces engaged American aircraft and ships and United States naval forces struck Libyan patrol craft and air-defense targets. This deployment resulted in the crew receiving the Navy Expeditionary Medal and the ship receiving her first Navy Unit Commendation.

USS TULLIBEE returned to New London in April 1986 after approximately five months deployed. The return closed her final extended overseas deployment and effectively marked the end of her active operational career. After nearly twenty-six years in commission, including developmental assignments, Mediterranean deployments, antisubmarine warfare evaluations, allied exercises, and multiple major overhauls, she was approaching the end of useful service. Her one-of-a-kind design, age, and maintenance demands made continued operation less practical at a time when newer submarines were increasingly available.

On 21 November 1986, Commander Charles R. Skolds relieved as the tenth commanding officer of USS TULLIBEE. By then the submarine was no longer preparing for another major operational cycle. She remained pierside at New London for the rest of 1986 and most of 1987 while preparing for inactivation. This period involved the administrative, material, and personnel steps associated with taking a nuclear-powered submarine out of service: reducing operational activity, preparing equipment for deactivation, planning nuclear-safety work, and readying the ship for transfer to a shipyard.

In September 1987, USS TULLIBEE was towed from New London to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to begin a ten-month inactivation and decommissioning period. USS TULLIBEE was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 25 June 1988. By that point she had completed a commissioned career of more than twenty-seven years. During that service she had submerged and surfaced 730 times and had traveled approximately 325,000 nautical miles.

After decommissioning, ex-TULLIBEE remained in inactive status for several years before entering the Navy's Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, on 5 January 1995. Recycling was completed on 1 April 1996. One of her fairwater planes later became part of a public art installation at Magnuson Park on the shore of Lake Washington in Seattle, a rare surviving physical fragment of a submarine otherwise dismantled through the recycling process.

back to top

Back to Submarines list.

Back to ships list.

Back to selection page.

Back to 1^st page.