USS ''Bergall'' (SSN-667), a ''Sturgeon''-class

attack submarine An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants and merchant vessels. In the Soviet and Russian navies they were and are called ...

, was the second ship of the

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to be named for the bergall, a small fish found along the

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coast of

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from the

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Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

Construction and commissioning

The contract to build ''Bergall'' was awarded to

General Dynamics Electric Boat General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) is a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation. It has been the primary builder of submarines for the United States Navy for more than 100 years. The company's main facilities are a shipyard in Groton, Co ...

on 9 March 1965 and her keel was laid down on 16 April 1966. She was launched on 17 February 1968, sponsored by Mrs. Ray C. Needham, and commissioned on 13 June 1969.

Service history

1969-1984

Ship's Motto: "Invisible, Invulnerable, Invincible" BERGALL is the second submarine to bear the name. The first was built by Electric Boat in 1944. During World War II, SS 320 made five war patrols and sank or damaged over 100,000 tons of enemy shipping. This is the reason for there being five stars on the SSN 667 Ship's Crest. The USS Bergall (SSN 667) was a STURGEON Class, especially designed as an anti-submarine weapon. Her keel was laid on 4 April 1966 and she was launched 17 February 1968. After completion of her sea trials she was commissioned on 13 June 1969. She became the 84th nuclear submarine to enter the Fleet and the 43rd attack type. Her assignment upon commissioning was to Submarine Development Group Two in Groton, Connecticut. This assignment was to fully test the Navy's newest all-purpose sonar, the AN/BQS-13. In 1970 Bergall became the first submarine to undergo the MK-48 torpedo conversion and in 1971 she was the first ship to carry the MK-48 torpedo in its operational warshot configuration. The AN/BQQ-5 digital sonar system was temporarily installed for test and evaluation in 1972. Bergall was awarded her first Navy Unit Commendation that year for her performance in the testing of the sonar systems and outstanding MK-48 torpedo proficiency. BERGALL has earned the Navy Unit Commendation (twice), Meritorious Unit Commendation (Four times), and numerous Battle Efficiency ("E"), Anti-submarine Warfare ("A"), Weapons Proficiency ("E"), Damage Control ("DC") and Communications ("C"). Bergall was twice awarded the Commander, Sixth Fleet "Hook 'Em" award during deployment to the Mediterranean in 1977 and 1982. Bergall appeared in three movies – "The Submarine", "Topside Safety" and episode 3 of the British TV series ''Sailor'' . In Sailor a medical evacuation from BERGALL was undertaken by a helicopter from the British Aircraft Carrier HMS ''Ark Royal'' Bergall was the first east -coast submarine to carry a Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV). Bergall completed 14 deployments and various exercises and operations vital to the national security of the United States. 1983 Deployed on North Atlantic Patrol for 3 months. 1983 Upon return to Norfolk, VA, SUBRON 6, she immediately resupplied then got underway for a second North Atlantic Patrol taking the billet left vacant by another sub, unable to leave the pier due to engineering difficulties. Summer 1984 Complement of ships divers is made ready with qualification of crew members Matthew Cronley MM1SSDV, Curt Escher RM2SSDV and David Finch ET2SSDV. October 1984 CDR Steven V. Mladineo turns over command to CDR Stephen Gibbs. January 1985 Deployed for the North Atlantic then after refit at Holy Loch, Scotland sailed for the Mediterranean where she performed several patrols in support of 6th fleet operations. April 1985 Refit Sardinia, Italy then returned to operations in support of the 6th fleet. June 1985 Bergall returned home to SUBRON 6 Norfolk, VA after 6 months away. She was inactivated on 4 August 1995 and decommissioned 6 June 1996.

Collision with USS ''Kittiwake'' (ASR-13), 1984

On 23 April 1984, the submarine rescue vessel collided with ''Bergall'' at

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, while ''Bergall'' was moored to the

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aft of ''Kittiwake''. ''Kittiwake'' was getting underway for the first time since she had undergone maintenance, during which her main drive motor was re-wired improperly, causing it and the

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it drove to rotate in the opposite direction from that ordered by personnel on ''Kittiwake''s

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

. This was unknown to ''Kittiwake''s bridge personnel, who found that ''Kittiwake'' started to drift aft when they were expecting her to move forward. Noting the backward motion, they ordered an increase in the motor drive speed in order to correct it and get ''Kittiwake'' moving forward, but unwittingly caused ''Kittiwake'' to move further aft and at a higher speed. Still not realizing that ''Kittiwake''s main drive motor operating in reverse of what they expected, ''Kittiwake''s bridge personnel then ordered another increase in ''Kittiwake''s forward speed, which only served to increase her speed astern. This continued until ''Kittiwake''s

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

backed into ''Bergall''s

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...

dome.

Decommissioning and disposal

''Bergall'' was decommissioned on 6 June 1996 and stricken from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) 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 t ...

on 6 June 1997. Her scrapping via the Nuclear-Powered

Ship and Submarine Recycling Program The Ship-Submarine Recycling Program (SRP) is the process that the United States Navy uses to dispose of decommissioned nuclear vessels. SRP takes place only at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) in Bremerton, Washington, but the preparations ...

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, was completed on 29 September 1997.

References

* *
NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive Bergall (SSN-667)

External links

USS Bergall Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergall (Ssn-667) Ships built in Groton, Connecticut Sturgeon-class submarines Cold War submarines of the United States Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy 1968 ships United States submarine accidents Maritime incidents in 1984