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USS Halibut (SSGN-587)
Encyclopedia
USS Halibut (SSGN-587), a unique guided missile submarine turned special operations platform, later redesignated as an attack submarine SSN-587, was the second ship of the United States Navy
to be named for the halibut
.
at Vallejo, California
, on 11 April 1957. She was launched
on 9 January 1959, sponsored by Mrs. Chet Holifield, wife of Congressman Chet Holifield of California
, and commissioned
on 4 January 1960 with Lieutenant Commander
Walter Dedrick in command.
, Halibut was the first submarine designed to launch guided missiles. Intended to carry the Regulus missile, her main deck was high above the waterline to provide a dry "flight deck." Her missile system was completely automated, with hydraulic machinery controlled from a central control station.
Halibut departed on her shakedown cruise 11 March 1960. On 25 March, underway to Australia
, she became the first nuclear-powered submarine to successfully launch a guided missile. She returned to Mare Island Naval Shipyard
on 18 June 1960, and after short training cruises sailed 7 November for Pearl Harbor
to join the Pacific Fleet
. During her first deployment she successfully launched her seventh consecutive Regulus I missile during a major Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
weapons demonstration. Returning to Pearl Harbor
on 9 April 1961, Halibut began her second deployment 1 May. During subsequent cruises, she participated in several missile firing exercises and underwent training.
Halibut deployed for the third time to the Western Pacific in late 1961, establishing a pattern of training and readiness operations followed through 1964. On 4 May 1964 Halibut departed Pearl Harbor
for the last Regulus missile patrol to be made by a submarine in the Pacific. Then, from September through December, Halibut joined eight other submarines in testing and evaluating the attack capabilities of the Permit-class submarine.
SSN-587. She sailed from Pearl Harbor
on 6 September for the West Coast, arriving at Keyport, Washington
, on 20 September. On 5 October she departed Keyport for Pearl Harbor and, after an eight-day stop over at Mare Island, California, arrived 21 October. Halibut then began ASW operations in the area, continuing until August 1968 when she transferred to Mare Island for overhaul and installation of: side thrusters; hangar section sea lock; anchoring winches with fore and aft mushroom anchors; saturation diving
(mixed gas) habitat; long and short range side-look sonar
; video and photographic equipment; mainframe computer
; induction tapping and recording equipment; port and starboard, fore and aft seabed skids ("sneakers"); towed underwater search vehicle ("fish") and winch; and other specialized oceanographic equipment. She returned to Pearl Harbor
in 1970 and operated with the Pacific Fleet and Submarine Development Group One (SubDevGruOne) out of San Diego with attachment offices at Mare Island until decommissioning in 1976.
Halibut was also used on secret underwater espionage missions by the United States against the Soviet Union. Her most notable accomplishments include:
on 30 June 1976. She was "mothballed
" at Keyport/Bangor Trident Base, Washington
in 1976, struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 30 April 1986, and disposed of through the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program
at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
, Bremerton, Washington
, on 9 September 1994.
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
to be named for the halibut
Halibut
Halibut is a flatfish, genus Hippoglossus, from the family of the right-eye flounders . Other flatfish are also called halibut. The name is derived from haly and butt , for its popularity on Catholic holy days...
.
Operational history
Halibuts keel was laid down by Mare Island Naval ShipyardMare Island Naval Shipyard
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...
at Vallejo, California
Vallejo, California
Vallejo is the largest city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 115,942 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area on the northeastern shore of San Pablo Bay...
, on 11 April 1957. She was launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 9 January 1959, sponsored by Mrs. Chet Holifield, wife of Congressman Chet Holifield of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 4 January 1960 with Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
Walter Dedrick in command.
Regulus Deterrence Patrols, 1960 - 1965
Begun as a diesel-electric submarine but completed with nuclear powerNuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
, Halibut was the first submarine designed to launch guided missiles. Intended to carry the Regulus missile, her main deck was high above the waterline to provide a dry "flight deck." Her missile system was completely automated, with hydraulic machinery controlled from a central control station.
Halibut departed on her shakedown cruise 11 March 1960. On 25 March, underway to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, she became the first nuclear-powered submarine to successfully launch a guided missile. She returned to Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...
on 18 June 1960, and after short training cruises sailed 7 November for Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
to join the Pacific Fleet
United States Pacific Fleet
The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...
. During her first deployment she successfully launched her seventh consecutive Regulus I missile during a major Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization was an international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, or Manila Pact, signed in September 1954 in Manila, Philippines. The formal institution of SEATO was established on 19 February...
weapons demonstration. Returning to Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
on 9 April 1961, Halibut began her second deployment 1 May. During subsequent cruises, she participated in several missile firing exercises and underwent training.
Halibut deployed for the third time to the Western Pacific in late 1961, establishing a pattern of training and readiness operations followed through 1964. On 4 May 1964 Halibut departed Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
for the last Regulus missile patrol to be made by a submarine in the Pacific. Then, from September through December, Halibut joined eight other submarines in testing and evaluating the attack capabilities of the Permit-class submarine.
Special Operation Missions, 1965 - 1976
In February 1965 Halibut entered Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a major overhaul, and on 15 August was redesignated as an attack submarine and given the hull classification symbolHull classification symbol
The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use hull classification symbols to identify their ship types and each individual ship within each type...
SSN-587. She sailed from Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
on 6 September for the West Coast, arriving at Keyport, Washington
Keyport, Washington
Keyport is an unincorporated community in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The community is located at the eastern terminus of State Route 308 on the Kitsap Peninsula, east of Subase Bangor. Keyport's ZIP Code, 98345, had a ZCTA population of 554 at the 2010 census, in addition to a...
, on 20 September. On 5 October she departed Keyport for Pearl Harbor and, after an eight-day stop over at Mare Island, California, arrived 21 October. Halibut then began ASW operations in the area, continuing until August 1968 when she transferred to Mare Island for overhaul and installation of: side thrusters; hangar section sea lock; anchoring winches with fore and aft mushroom anchors; saturation diving
Saturation diving
Saturation diving is a diving technique that allows divers to reduce the risk of decompression sickness when they work at great depth for long periods of time....
(mixed gas) habitat; long and short range side-look sonar
Side-scan sonar
Side-scan sonar is a category of sonar system that is used to efficiently create an image of large areas of the sea floor...
; video and photographic equipment; mainframe computer
Mainframe computer
Mainframes are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term originally referred to the...
; induction tapping and recording equipment; port and starboard, fore and aft seabed skids ("sneakers"); towed underwater search vehicle ("fish") and winch; and other specialized oceanographic equipment. She returned to Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
in 1970 and operated with the Pacific Fleet and Submarine Development Group One (SubDevGruOne) out of San Diego with attachment offices at Mare Island until decommissioning in 1976.
Halibut was also used on secret underwater espionage missions by the United States against the Soviet Union. Her most notable accomplishments include:
- The underwater tapping of a Soviet communication line running from the Kamchatka peninsula west to the Soviet mainland in the Sea of Okhotsk (Operation Ivy BellsOperation Ivy BellsOperation Ivy Bells was a joint United States Navy, CIA and National Security Agency mission whose objective was to place wire taps on Soviet underwater communication lines during the Cold War.-History:...
) - Photography of and assistance in the recovery of a sunken Soviet submarine K-129Soviet submarine K-129 (Golf II)K-129 was a Project 629A diesel-electric powered submarine of the Soviet Pacific Fleet, one of six Project 629 strategic ballistic missile submarines attached to the 15th Submarine Squadron based at Rybachiy Naval Base, Kamchatka, commanded by Rear Admiral Rudolf A...
in the CIA's Project Azorian.
Final disposition
Halibut was decommissionedShip decommissioning
To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....
on 30 June 1976. She was "mothballed
Reserve fleet
A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....
" at Keyport/Bangor Trident Base, Washington
Bangor Trident Base, Washington
Bangor Base is a census-designated place in Kitsap County, Washington, within the U.S. Navy's Naval Base Kitsap on the Kitsap Peninsula. Its population was 6,054 at the 2010 census.- Geography :...
in 1976, struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 30 April 1986, and disposed of through the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program
Ship-Submarine recycling program
The Ship/Submarine Recycling Program is the process the United States Navy uses to dispose of decommissioned nuclear vessels. SRP takes place only at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, but the preparations can begin elsewhere....
at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington...
, Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...
, on 9 September 1994.
Presidential Unit Citation – 1968
- Citation:
- For exceptional meritorious service on support of National Research and Development efforts while serving as a unit in the Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Conducting highly technical submarine operations, over an extended period of time, USS HALIBUT (SSN-587) successfully concluded several missions of significant scientific value to the Government of the United States. The professional, military, and technical competence, and inspiring devotion to duty of HALIBUT’s officers and men, reflect great credit upon themselves and the United States Naval Service.http://users.erols.com/marelk/Vets%20Page%20Rework/PUC-%20Citation.htm
Presidential Unit Citation – 1972
- Citation:
- For extraordinary heroism and outstanding performance of duty as a unit in the Submarine Force, United States Pacific Fleet during 1972, USS HALIBUT successfully accomplished two highly productive and complex submarine operations of immeasurable value to the Government of the United States. The superb professional competence, extremely effective teamwork and exemplary devotion to duty displayed by the officers and men of USS HALIBUT reflect great credit upon themselves, the Submarine Force and the United States Naval Service.http://users.erols.com/marelk/Vets%20Page%20Rework/PUC-%20Citation.htm
Additional reading
- Norman Polmar and J.K. Moore. Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines. Washington, DC: Potomac Books, Inc., 2004. ISBN 1-57488-530-8 (paperback)
- Roger C. Dunham. "Spy Sub - Top Secret Mission To The Bottom Of The Pacific". Penguin Books, USA; New York, NY, 1996. ISBN 0-451-40797-0
External links
- http://www.regulus-missile.com - Some good US Navy pictures and about the Documentary film produced by Nick T. SparkNick T. SparkNick T. Spark is an American documentary filmmaker and writer. Films he has written, directed or produced include Regulus: The First Nuclear Missile Submarines and the Emmy award winning The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club...
, "Regulus: The First Nuclear Missile Submarines" which aired initially on the History Channel in Europe.