Summary
USS Grayling (SSN-646), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was the fifth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the grayling. Her keel was laid down in 1964, and she was launched just over three years later, and commissioned in 1969. She was involved in the submarine incident off Kola Peninsula on 20 March 1993, when she collided with the Russian Navy submarine Novomoskovsk. She was decommissioned in 1997, and disposed of a year later.
 USS Grayling (SSN-646)
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Grayling |
| Namesake | The grayling, a fresh water game fish closely related to the trout |
| Awarded | 5 September 1962 |
| Builder | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine |
| Laid down | 12 May 1964 |
| Launched | 22 June 1967 |
| Sponsored by | Miss Lori Brinker |
| Commissioned | 11 October 1969 |
| Decommissioned | 18 July 1997 |
| Stricken | 18 July 1997 |
| Identification | Hull number: SSN-646 |
| Fate | Scrapping via Ship and Submarine Recycling Program completed 31 March 1998 |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Sturgeon-class attack submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 289 ft (88 m) |
| Beam | 32 ft (9.8 m) |
| Draft | 29 ft (8.8 m) |
| Installed power | 15,000 shp (11 MW) |
| Propulsion | One S5W nuclear reactor, two steam turbines, one screw |
| Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) standard |
| Test depth | 1,300 ft (400 m) |
| Complement | 109 (14 officers, 95 enlisted men) |
| Armament | 4 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes |
Construction and commissioning edit
The contract to build Grayling was awarded on 5 September 1962 and her keel was laid down at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Maine, on 12 May 1964. She was launched on 22 June 1967, sponsored by Miss Lori Brinker, the daughter of Lieutenant Commander Robert Brinker, who was commanding officer of the previous Grayling (SS-209) when she was lost with all hands in September 1943 during World War II. Grayling (SSN-646) was commissioned on 11 October 1969.
Service history edit
Collision with Russian submarine, 1993 edit
On 20 March 1993, Grayling collided with the Russian Navy submarine Novomoskovsk,[1][2] a Delfin-class (NATO reporting name Delta IV-class) ballistic missile submarine north of Murmansk. Grayling had been tracking the Russian unit when the collision happened.[3] The American submarine collided with the starboard bow of Novomoskovsk; neither submarine sustained serious damage.[4]
1993–1997 edit
In June 1996, Grayling took part in Exercise TAPON 96,[5] a North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercise held in the Alboran Sea, Gulf of Cadiz, and eastern Atlantic Ocean, along with the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Conolly, the Spanish aircraft carrier Príncipe de Asturias, the Spanish frigates Baleares, Santa María, and Numancia, the Spanish submarine Delfin, and the Greek destroyer Formion.
Decommissioning and disposal edit
Grayling was deactivated on 1 March 1997, placed in commission in reserve a week later as she entered the Ship and Submarine Recycling Program, then decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 18 July 1997. Her scrapping via the U.S. Navy's Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Washington, was completed on 31 March 1998.
Commemoration edit
Grayling's sail is now a memorial on the grounds of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Maine, and her anchor and chain are on display as a memorial at The American Legion Post 106 in downtown Grayling, Michigan.
See also edit
Notes edit
- ^ "President witnesses strategic missile force's failure". 17 February 2004. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
- ^ "Collision of Two U.S. Nuclear Powered Submarines on March 19, 1998". Center for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, 8 April 1998.
- ^ U.S. and Russian Subs in Collision In Arctic Ocean Near Murmansk by Michael E. Gordon. The New York Times, 23 March 1993
- ^ Sontag, Sherry and Drew, Christopher (1998). Blind Man's Bluff: The untold story of American submarine espionage. Thorndyke press, p. 590. ISBN 0786218762
- ^ USS Grayling (SSN-646), History, Patrols and Crews Archived 12 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Mesothelioma Web Organization. Retrieved on 25 May 2013
References edit
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
- NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive Grayling (SSN-646)