USS ''Sea Devil'' (SSN-664), 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 sea devil (''Manta birostria''), also known as the manta ray or devil ray, the largest of all living

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, noted for power and endurance.

Construction and commissioning

The contract to build ''Sea Devil'' was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in

Newport News 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 ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. on 28 May 1964, and her

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was laid down there on 12 April 1966. She was launched on 5 October 1967, sponsored by Mrs. Ignatius J. Galantin, the wife of Admiral Ignatius J. "Pete" Galantin (1910-2004), and commissioned on 30 January 1969.

Service history

''Sea Devil'' was assigned to Submarine Division 62 at

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, Virginia. She operated out of Norfolk into at least 1977. She was assigned to Submarine Squadron 4 in Charleston SC from the mid-1980s until her decommissioning in 1991. She was a 637 class fast attack hunter killer. She also surfaced multiple times through the ice in the arctic.

Decommissioning and disposal

''Sea Devil'' was decommissioned on 16 October 1991 and stricken from the

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the same day. 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 ...

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 ...

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, began on 1 March 1998 and was completed on 7 September 1999.

References

* *
NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive Sea Devil (SSN-664)
Ships built in Newport News, Virginia Sturgeon-class submarines Cold War submarines of the United States Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy 1967 ships {{US-submarine-stub