SSK was the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

hull classification symbol The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ind ...

for a diesel-electric submarine specialized for anti-submarine duties. SS indicated that the vessel was a submarine, and the K suffix that it was a hunter-killer. The United States Navy does not currently operate any submarines of this type, and so the designation is inactive.

History

The start of the Cold War in the mid-1940s and the threat of Soviet submarines in the Atlantic led several Western navies to build or adapt submarines to specialize in hunting other submarines. The changes included streamlining to make them quieter and improved acoustic sensors. This type of vessel was given the classification SSK in United States service. Due to tactical and financial considerations resulting from

nuclear propulsion Nuclear propulsion includes a wide variety of propulsion methods that use some form of nuclear reaction as their primary power source. The idea of using nuclear material for propulsion dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. In 1903 it was ...

these changes were eventually incorporated into all submarines, allowing the SSK role to be subsumed into the regular

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 ...

role and the classification became obsolete.

''Barracuda''-class construction

The only purpose-built ones were the three ''Barracuda''-class: * * * These were small submarines equipped with enhanced hydrophones and designed to lie in wait for Soviet submarines off the Russian coast. They were designed to be cheaply built for easy mass-production in the event of a war, and were all reclassified as SS or SST boats in 1959 when they were relegated to training duties.

''Gato''-class conversions

Seven

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

submarines were also given the SSK classification in the late 1940s following streamlining and sensor upgrades. These were: * * * * * * *

SSKN

For a brief period in the 1950s the US Navy listed the SSKN as a valid hull classification, because it was thought that a small relatively low-cost nuclear SSK would be needed given the high cost of the nuclear attack submarines. The was slated to become the first SSKN. However, during her construction it became apparent that it was impossible to build a low-cost nuclear SSK. It was decided to launch ''Tullibee'' with the SSN hull classification and retire the unused SSKN classification.

Current uses

The

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...

operates diesel-electric hunter-killer submarines and uses this hull classification, for example the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

. The term SSK term is sometimes currently used to indicate a diesel-electric patrol submarine.For example in and

References

Citations

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ssk (Hull Classification Symbol) Submarines of the United States Navy