USS ''Queenfish'' (SSN-651), a

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 "mul ...

, 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 queenfish, a small food fish found off the Pacific coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Construction and commissioning

The contract to build ''Queenfish'' was awarded to

Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the largest industrial employer in Virginia, and sole designer, builder and refueler of United States Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S. Navy ...

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

, on 26 March 1963 and her

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was laid down there on 11 May 1964. She was launched on 25 February 1966, sponsored by Julia Butler Hansen,

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

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 on ...

s 3rd Congressional District (1960–1974), and commissioned on 6 December 1966."Unknown Waters" by

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Alfred S. McLaren ''Queenfish'' was launched one day ahead of the lead ship of her class, the ''Sturgeon'', despite being laid down 18 months later, and as a result of a multimillion-dollar bonus offered by the Navy to the Newport News shipyard. She was also commissioned in December 1966, three months ahead of ''Sturgeon''.

Service history

''Queenfish'' spent the early months of 1967 practicing under-ice operations in the Davis Strait. She was assigned

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, as her home port and arrived there in late spring 1967 via Guantanamo Bay, the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

, and the Pacific Northwest. In 1968, escorted by the Australian minehunter HMAS ''Curlew'', USS ''Queenfish'' was the first nuclear-powered warship to visit Australia. ''Queenfish'' berthed at Station Pier, Melbourne, on 5 March 1968. The visit was a success, despite anti-nuclear protests. (These dates are incorrect. Queenfish did not go to Australia in 1968) The visit was in 1978. In mid-1970, ''Queenfish'' operated below the polar ice pack in the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

, mapping the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

s seabed for potential military purposes in the event of a war between the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the United States. She also surfaced at the North Pole in August 1970 and spent 20 days exploring the Siberian Shelf across the Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi seas. From 1970 to 1973 ''Queenfish'' completed two Pacific deployments, two Vietnam excursions, and six cold war missions. She then entered the

Bremerton Navy Yard 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 ...

for overhaul. ''Queenfish'' revisited the North Pole in 1985 and 1988. In the mid 1970s the Queenfish was sent to the Magnetic Silencing Facility inside of Naval Base Kitsap Bangor for deperming treatment in order to reduce its electromagnetic signature In 1983 Hurricane Eva struck the Hawaiian Islands causing extensive damage to the infrastructure on Oahu. As per orders from COMSUBPAC all U.S. Navy submarines put to sea for the duration of the storm. Upon their return to Pearl Harbor the fleet was informed that the electrical power at Pearl had been disrupted by the hurricane. Normally, while in port, the nuclear reactors on Navy submarines are taken offline and electricity is supplied to the boats via "shore power" cables. But because of the devastation from the hurricane this was not possible. Instead, the decision was made by the U.S. Navy, in cooperation with officials from the State of Hawaii, to bring the Queenfish's reactor online, along with the reactors on two other submarines and reverse the current flow through the shore power cables. As a result, the three Navy submarines provided power to the island of Oahu for approximately 36 hours until repairs could be made to the islands power generating facilities. July 1985 "Queenfish" deployed on a mission with the USS Aspro to the North Pole.

Decommissioning and disposal

''Queenfish'' was deactivated on 21 September 1990, decommissioned on 8 November 1991 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 14 April 1992. Her scrapping via the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at

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 u ...

Bremerton, Washington 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 Bremerto ...

, began on 1 May 1992 and was completed on 7 April 1993. The

escape trunk An escape trunk is a small compartment on a submarine which provides a means for crew to escape from a downed submarine; it operates on a principle similar to an airlock, in that it allows the transfer of persons or objects between two areas of d ...

was removed and is currently utilized at the US Army Special Forces Underwater Operations School,

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

, Florida in their Submarine Escape and Buoyant Ascent Tower.

References

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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive Queenfish (SSN-651)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queenfish (SSN-651) Sturgeon-class submarines Cold War submarines of the United States Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy 1966 ships Ships built in Newport News, Virginia