USS Growler (SSG-577)
 |
This article's lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents. (July 2010) |
 Regulus I missile aboard USS Growler at Pier 86, its museum ship home. |
|
| Career (United States) |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 31 July 1954 |
| Builder: | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard |
| Laid down: | 15 February 1955 |
| Launched: | 15 April 1958 |
| Commissioned: | 30 August 1958 |
| Decommissioned: | 25 May 1964 |
| Struck: | 1 August 1980 |
| Fate: | Museum ship at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Grayback class submarine |
| Displacement: | 2,110 tons light, 3,550 tons full, 1,440 tons dead |
| Length: | 96.9 m (318 ft) overall, 96.3 m (316 ft) waterline |
| Beam: | 8.2 m (27 ft) extreme, 7.9 m (26 ft) waterline |
| Draught: | 5.7 m (19 ft) |
| Speed: | 20 knots (37 km/h) surfaced, 12 knots (22 km/h) submerged |
| Complement: | 9 officers, 78 men |
| Armament: | Regulus missile launcher, two Regulus II or four Regulus I missiles, four bow and two stern 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes |
USS Growler (SSG-577), an early cruise missile submarine of the Grayback class, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the growler, a large-mouth black bass.
Contents |
Construction and training [edit]
Growler was laid down on 15 February 1955 by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard of Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 5 April 1958 sponsored by Mrs. Robert K. Byerts, widow of Commander Thomas B. Oakley, Jr., who commanded the third Growler on her 9th, 10th, and fatal 11th war patrols. Growler commissioned at Portsmouth on 30 August 1958 with Lieutenant Commander Charles Priest, Jr., in command.
After training exercises off the East Coast Growler sailed south for her shakedown cruise, arriving at the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Puerto Rico, on 19 February 1959. After a brief run back to Portsmouth, she returned to the Caribbean Sea in March to train in launching Regulus I and II guided missiles. Growler returned to Portsmouth 19 April via Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and New London, Connecticut.
Operational history [edit]
Growler then proceeded to the Pacific via Norfolk, Virginia, Key West, Florida, and the Panama Canal, putting in at Pearl Harbor on 7 September to serve as flagship of Submarine Division 12. At Pearl Harbor the guided missile sub participated in a variety of battle and torpedo exercises as well as missile practice before beginning her first Regulus Deterrent Mission. On this mission, which lasted from 12 March to 17 May 1960, Growler departed Hawaii with a full store of Regulus sea-to-surface missiles, armed with nuclear warheads, and patrolled under a strict cloak of secrecy. Their patrols could last two months or more at a stretch and required them to remain submerged for hours and even days—which at first hardly seems difficult when compared to the patrols of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, but was a strain for the crew of a much smaller diesel boat. It is traditional that the log entries for 00:00 (midnight) on New Year's Day be made in verse. On 1 January 1961, during Growler's second patrol, Lieutenant (j.g.) Bruce Felt wrote: "Not our idea of fun and good cheers/But doing our job to ensure many New Years."
From May 1960 through December 1963 Growler had made nine such deterrent mission patrols, one of which, the fourth, terminated at Yokosuka, Japan, on 24 April 1962, as the Navy displayed one of its newest weapons.
Decommissioning and fate [edit]
Returning to Mare Island, California, Growler decommissioned 25 May 1964 and was placed in reserve. She was moved to the Inactive Fleet section in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 August 1980, and was scheduled to be used as a torpedo target. However, on 8 August 1988, Congress awarded the hulk to Zachary Fisher, Chairman of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum.
Due to the renovations to the entire Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum complex, including the USS Intrepid and Pier 86 the Growler was towed to Brooklyn for repairs. Holes found rusted in the hull complicated matters and pushed repair costs past $1.5 million. The Growler returned to Pier 86 in late February 2009, and was re-opened to the public on 21 May 2009, during the Intrepid museum "Fleet Week 2009" celebration.
References [edit]
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
External links [edit]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: USS Growler (SSG-577) |
Coordinates: 40°45′54″N 74°00′00″W / 40.765110°N 73.999990°W
|
||||||||
