USS Grayling (SSN-646)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Grayling (SSN-646) |
| Awarded: | 5 September 1962 |
| Builder: | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine |
| Laid down: | 12 May 1964 |
| Launched: | 22 June 1967 |
| Commissioned: | 11 October 1969 |
| Struck: | 18 July 1997 |
| Fate: | Submarine recycling program |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Sturgeon-class submarine |
| Displacement: | 3,956 long tons (4,019 t) light 4,252 long tons (4,320 t) full 296 long tons (301 t) dead |
| Length: | 289 ft (88 m) |
| Beam: | 32 ft (9.8 m) |
| Draft: | 29 ft (8.8 m) |
| Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) standard |
| Complement: | 14 officers, 95 men |
| Armament: | 4 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes |
USS Grayling (SSN-646), a Sturgeon-class submarine, was the fifth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the grayling, a fresh-water game fish closely related to the trout.
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[edit] History
Her keel was laid down at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, on 12 May 1964. She was launched on 22 June 1967 (sponsored by Miss Lori Brinker, daughter of Lieutenant Commander Robert Brinker, who commanded USS Grayling (SS-209) when she was lost in September 1943). Grayling (SSN-646) was commissioned on 11 October 1969 with Charles R. Baron in command.
[edit] Collision with Russian submarine
On 20 March 1993, Grayling collided with Russian submarine K-407 Novomoskovsk[1][2], a Delfin-class ballistic missile submarine (NATO reporting name "Delta-III") commanded by Captain First Rank Andrei Bulgarkov.[3]
The Novomoskovsk, a ballistic missile submarine, was performing combat training tasks at a site 100 nautical miles (190 km) north of the area of the collision. Having reached the northern border of the designated area, Novomoskovsk turned back, making only 4 knots (7.4 km/h). Twenty-five minutes later Novomoskovsk felt an impact followed by screeching noises. Immediately afterwards, sonar reported noises of a foreign submarine close by. The intruder increased its speed to 23 knots (43 km/h) to clear the area.[citation needed]
Investigation revealed that Grayling had been tracking the Novomoskovsk from a position 155-165 degrees to the left and from distances of between 11–13 kilometres (5.9–7.0 nmi). Grayling lost contact with the Russian submarine when the latter changed course. To reacquire the target, Grayling sped to the location of contact loss at 8–15 knots (15–28 km/h).
In the sector of 30 to 40 aft degrees submarine noises (screws, turbines, circulation pumps, and autonomous generators) are screened by the hull which creates a sort of "acoustic channel". From above, the noise diagram of a submarine resembles a squirrel in form. That is why when two submarines approach one another head-on, each detects the other when the distance is dangerously small. Grayling's sonar detected the Novomoskovsk at the distance of about a kilometer by using noise triangulation (the major method of detection in all navies because it provides stealth). With the distance closing and the Combat Information Center still trying to decide on the best way of avoiding a collision, Grayling's captain tried to change course and to surface, but the attempts were thwarted by momentum. Fortunately, the blow connected with the upper structure of Novomoskovsk and the Russian submarine did not sustain any serious damage.[citation needed]
Reports that Grayling had to be "written off" after this collision are exaggerated; in June 1996, Grayling took part in Exercise TAPON 96,[citation needed] an allied exercise held in the Alboran Sea, Gulf of Cadiz, and the eastern Atlantic Ocean, along with the destroyer USS Conolly (DD-979), the Spanish aircraft carrier Principe de Asturias (R11), the Spanish frigates Baleares (F71), Santa María (F81), Numancia (F83), the Spanish submarine Delfin (S-61), and the Greek destroyer Formion (D-220).
[edit] Final deposition
Grayling was deactivated on 1 March 1997, placed in commission in reserve a week later as she entered the Ship and Submarine Recycling Program, then decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 18 July 1997. She was scrapped on 31 March 1998.
Her sail is now a memorial on the grounds of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Maine, and her anchor and chain are on display as a memorial in downtown Grayling, Michigan.
[edit] See also
Submarine incident off Kildin island
[edit] References
- ^ "President witnesses strategic missile force's failure". 2004-02-17. http://www.gazeta.ru/2004/02/17/oa_112354.shtml. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
- ^ "Collision of Two U.S. Nuclear Powered Submarines on March 19, 1998". Center for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, April 8, 1998.
- ^ Cherkashin, Nikolay. "Подводный крейсер идет на таран (An underwater cruiser rams)" (in Russian). Soviet Belorussia. http://www.nvmu.ru/archiv/1/n_0/9684.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
