USS BLUEFISH SSN 675 COLD WAR NUCLEAR SUBMARINES BLUE FISH

USS Bluefish (SSN-675), was a Sturgeon-class attack submarine and the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the bluefish.

Construction and commissioning

The contract to build Bluefish was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 15 July 1966 and her keel was laid down there on 13 March 1968. She was launched on 10 January 1970, sponsored by Mrs. David Packard, and commissioned on 8 January 1971 with Commander Richard A. Peterson in command.

Decommissioning and disposal

Bluefish was decommissioned with Commander Richard C. West in command on 31 May 1996 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day. Her scrapping via the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington, was completed on 1 November 2003.

The Sturgeon-class (colloquially in naval circles, known as the 637-class) were a class of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines (SSN) in service with the United States Navy from the 1960s until 2004. They were the "work horses" of the submarine attack fleet throughout much of the Cold War. The boats were phased out in the 1990s and early 21st century, as their successors, the Los Angeles, followed by the Seawolf and Virginia-class boats, entered service.

DESIGN

The Sturgeons were essentially lengthened and improved variants of the Thresher/Permit class that directly preceded them. The biggest difference was the much larger sail, which permitted the return of intelligence gathering masts to U.S. nuclear submarines. The fairwater planes mounted on the sail could rotate 90 degrees, allowing the submarine to surface through thin ice. Because the S5W reactor was used, the same as in the Skipjacks and Thresher/Permits, and the displacement was increased, the Sturgeons' top speed was 26 knots (48 km/h), 2 knots slower than the Thresher/Permits. The last nine Sturgeons were lengthened 10 feet (3 m) to provide more space for intelligence-gathering equipment and to facilitate the use of dry deck shelters.
Armaments

They were equipped to carry the Harpoon missile, the Tomahawk cruise missile, the UUM-44 SUBROC, the MK37 SLMM and MK 60 CAPTOR mines, and the MK-48 and ADCAP torpedoes. Torpedo tubes were located amidships to accommodate the bow-mounted sonar. The bow covering the sonar sphere was made from steel or glass reinforced plastic (GRP), both varieties having been produced both booted and not booted. Booted domes are covered with a half-inch layer of rubber. The GRP domes improved the bow sonar sphere performance; though for intelligence gathering missions, the towed-array sonar was normally used as it was a much more sensitive array.

NOISE REDUCTION

Several Sturgeon boats were modifications of the original designs to test ways to reduce noise.

Narwhal, which was nearly a sub-class of its own, was completed with an S5G reactor which was cooled using natural convection rather than pumps and did not have reduction gears, but utilized a sophisticated multi-stage turbine in an attempt to reduce the noise footprint from the reduction gears. The turbine arrangement was not considered successful because of its complex warm-up and cooldown procedures.

Glenard P. Lipscomb was completed using a large electric motor for main propulsion rather than direct drive from the steam turbines. The Lipscomb’s trial of electric propulsion was not considered successful due to lack of reliability and she was decommissioned in 1989.

Puffer was outfitted with Raytheon Harmonic Power Conditioners (a.k.a. "the cloaking device"[citation needed]) which eliminated an electrical bus noise problem that was inherent in the class. This was done by harmonic conditioning of the power system. This successful feature was later outfitted on the entire class.
Batfish was outfitted with SHT (special hull treatment) during a non-refueling overhaul, which reduced noise and the submarine sonar profile.

VARIANTS

Beginning with Archerfish, units of this class had a 10-foot (3 meter) longer hull, giving them more living and working space than previous submarines. Parche received an additional 100-foot (30 meter) hull extension containing cable tapping equipment that brought her total length to 401 feet (122 m). A number of the long hull Sturgeon-class SSNs, including Parche, Rivers, and Russell were involved in top-secret reconnaissance missions, including cable tap operations in the Barents and Okhotsk seas.

A total of seven boats were modified to carry the SEAL Dry Deck Shelter (DDS). The DDS is a submersible launch hangar with a hyperbaric chamber attached to the ship's weapon shipping hatch. DDS-equipped boats were tasked with the covert insertion of special forces troops.

BOATS

Short Hull

Sturgeon (SSN-637)
Whale (SSN-638)
Tautog (SSN-639)
Grayling (SSN-646)
Pogy (SSN-647)
Aspro (SSN-648)
Sunfish (SSN-649)
Pargo (SSN-650)
Queenfish (SSN-651)
Puffer (SSN-652)

Ray (SSN-653)
Sand Lance (SSN-660)
Lapon (SSN-661)
Gurnard (SSN-662)
Hammerhead (SSN-663)
Sea Devil (SSN-664)
Guitarro (SSN-665)
Hawkbill (SSN-666)
Bergall (SSN-667)
Spadefish (SSN-668)

Seahorse (SSN-669)
Finback (SSN-670)
Pintado (SSN-672)
Flying Fish (SSN-673)
Trepang (SSN-674)
Bluefish (SSN-675)
Billfish (SSN-676)
Drum (SSN-677)

Long Hull

Archerfish (SSN-678) (DDS)
Silversides (SSN-679) (DDS)
William H. Bates (SSN-680) (ex-Redfish) (DDS)

Batfish (SSN-681) (DDS)
Tunny (SSN-682) (DDS)
Parche (SSN-683) (R&D)

Cavalla (SSN-684) (DDS)
L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) (DDS)
Richard B. Russell (SSN-687)

General characteristics
Name:	USS Bluefish
Namesake:	The bluefish
Ordered:	15 July 1966
Builder:	General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down:	13 March 1968
Launched:	10 January 1970
Sponsored by:	Mrs. David Packard
Commissioned:	8 January 1971
Decommissioned:	31 May 1996
Struck:	31 May 1996
Motto:	Blue Thunder from Down Under!
Fate:	Scrapping via Ship and Submarine Recycling Program completed 1 November 2003
Class & type:	Sturgeon-class attack submarine
Displacement:	3,978 long tons (4,042 t) light 4,270 long tons (4,339 t) full 292 long tons (297 t) dead
Length:	292 ft 3 in (89.08 m)
Beam:	31 ft 8 in (9.65 m)
Draft:	28 ft 8 in (8.74 m)
Installed power:	15,000 shaft horsepower (11.2 megawatts)
Propulsion:	One S5W nuclear reactor, two steam turbines, one screw
Speed:	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) surfaced 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) submerged
Test depth:	1,300 feet (396 meters)
Complement:	109 (14 officers, 95 enlisted men)
Armament:	4 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes amidships aft of bow • Mark 48 torpedoes • UUM-44A SUBROC missiles • UGM-84A/C Harpoon missiles • Mark 57 deep-water mines • Mark 60 CAPTOR mines