USS ''Billfish'' (SSN-676), 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

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 ...

to be named for the

billfish The term billfish refers to a group of saltwater predatory fish characterised by prominent pointed bills (rostra), and by their large size; some are longer than . Extant billfish include sailfish and marlin, which make up the family Istioph ...

, a name used for any fish, such as

gar Gars are members of the family Lepisosteidae, which are the only surviving members of the Ginglymodi, an ancient holosteian group of ray-finned fish, which first appeared during the Triassic, over 240 million years ago. Gars comprise seven livin ...

or spearfish, with bill-shaped jaws.

Construction and commissioning

The contract to build ''Billfish'' was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

, on 15 July 1966 and her keel was laid down on 20 September 1968. She was launched on 1 May 1970 sponsored by Mrs. Earle G. Wheeler, the wife of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Earle G. Wheeler (1908–1975), and commissioned on 12 March 1971.

Service history

''Billfish'' was one of the few submarines fitted to carry

Mystic class deep submergence rescue vehicle ''Mystic'' class is a class of Deep-Submergence Rescue Vehicles (DSRVs), designed for rescue operations on submerged, disabled submarines of the United States Navy or foreign navies. The two submarines of the class were never used for this pu ...

during the 1980s.

Decommissioning and disposal

''Billfish'' was decommissioned on 1 July 1999 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 ...

the same day. Her scrapping was 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 ...

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted ...

Bremerton Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremer ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, was completed on 26 April 2000.

References

* *
NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive Billfish (SSN-676)

External links

USS ''Billfish'' SSN 676
(Web site created by former USS ''Billfish'' (SSN-676) crew member) Ships built in Groton, Connecticut Sturgeon-class submarines Cold War submarines of the United States Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy 1970 ships {{US-submarine-stub