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U.S.S. GRAYBACK
(SS-574)Click to view crew list
USS GRAYBACK (SS-574) - a Grayback-class submarine
In Commission 1958 to 1984SS-574 Deployments - Major Events
Add a SS-574 Shellback Initiation | Add a SS-574 Deployment - Major Event | ||||
Month | Year | to | Month | Year | Deployment / Event |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
JUL | 1954 | - | Keel Date: 1 JUL 1954 at Mare Island Naval Shipyard Vallejo CA | ||
JUL | 1957 | - | Launch Date: 2 JUL 1957 | ||
MAR | 1958 | - | Commissioned: 7 MAR 1958 | ||
AUG | 1961 | - | NOV | 1961 | depjoyment |
FEB | 1963 | - | MAY | 1963 | West Pac |
AUG | 1971 | - | SEP | 1971 | West Pac |
JUN | 1976 | - | AUG | 1976 | Bayanihan 76 Philippines Islands Circumnavigation |
NOV | 1976 | - | Shellback Initiation - 26 NOV 1976 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JUN | 1983 | - | JUL | 1983 | Dependents Cruise |
JAN | 1984 | - | Decommissioned: 15 JAN 1984 |
SS-574 General Specifications
Class: Grayback-class submarine
Complement: 87 Officers and Enlisted
Displacement: 1740 tons
Length: 273 feet
Beam: 27 feet 2 inches
Draft: 19 feet
USS GRAYBACK (SS-574)
The second Grayback
(SSG-574) was launched by the Mare
Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Calif., 2 July 1957; sponsored by Mrs. John A. Moore, widow of the last skipper of the first Grayback; and commissioned
at Mare Island 7 March 1958, Lt
Comdr. Hugh G. Nott in command.
The
first of the Navy's guided missile submarines to carry the Regulus II sea-to-surface missiles, Grayback conducted tests and shakedown along the West
Coast. While operating out of Port
Hueneme, Calif., in September she
carried out the first successful launching of a Regulus II missile from a submarine, which pointed the way to a revolutionary advance in the power of
navies to attack land bases. Departing San Diego 30 October, Grayback arrived Pearl Harbor 8 November for a month of exercises and maneuvers before returning to Mare
Island for her "10,000-mile
checkup."
On
9 February 1959, Grayback departed Mare Island to make Pearl Harbor her
permanent home base, reaching Hawaii 7 March via Port Hueneme, and Long Beach, Calif., and Mazatlan,
Mexico. After a series of exercises there, she cruised to Dutch Harbor, Unmak and Sequam Islands, and Kodiak, Alaska, for further missile
exercises from 3 to 31 July. This was
followed by the first of her nine deterrent missile strike missions to date, as
from 21 September to 12 November she
patrolled secretly through Pacific
waters with a full load of missiles ready for retaliation 1000 miles inland in event of war. Grayback's first patrol terminated
at Yokosuka, Japan, as did two others. She returned to Pearl Harbor 8 December.
On
22 February 1960, Grayback modified her missile launching system and simplified her complex
electrical circuits. After this, she again
took up deterrent missile strike missions. Over the next 2 1/2 years she
completed seven missions for a total
of nearly 18 months at sea, much of this
time submerged. In addition to Yokosuka both Adak, Alaska and Pearl
Harbor also served as termination points for
these patrols. On her nine patrols she spent
more than 20 months at sea and logged well over 130,000 miles on deterrent
missile strike missions.
As
more and more Polaris submarines became operational, they assumed the deterrent
functions previously assigned to Grayback
and her sister ships. She decommissioned
at Mare Island 25 May 1964. At present she is being converted to a submarine
troop transport and will serve the
Navy as Grayback (APSS-574). Conversion is scheduled to be completed in December 1968.
[Note: The above USS GRAYBACK (SS-574) history may, or may not, contain text provided by crew members of the USS GRAYBACK (SS-574), or by other non-crew members, and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]