USS Sturgeon (SSN-637), the lead ship

Lead ship

The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable military ships and larger civilian craft.-Overview:...

 of her class

Sturgeon class submarine

The Sturgeon class were a class of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines in service with the United States Navy from the 1960s until 2004. They were the "work horses" of the submarine attack fleet throughout much of the Cold War...

 of nuclear-powered attack submarines, was the third ship of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 to be named for the sturgeon

Sturgeon

Sturgeon is the common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genera Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. The term includes over 20 species commonly referred to as sturgeon and several closely related species that have distinct common...

.

Construction and commissioning

The contract to build Sturgeon was awarded to the Electric Boat

Electric boat

While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail power and gasoline engines also remaining popular, boats powered by electricity have been used for over 120 years. Electric boats were very popular from the 1880s until the 1920s, when the internal combustion...

 Division of General Dynamics

General Dynamics

General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...

 Corporation in Groton

Groton, Connecticut

Groton is a town located on the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 39,907 at the 2000 census....

, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

, on 30 November 1961 and her keel

Keel

In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...

 was laid down there on 10 August 1963. She was launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 on 26 February 1966, sponsored by Mrs. Everett Dirkson, the wife of United States Senator Everett Dirksen

Everett Dirksen

Everett McKinley Dirksen was an American politician of the Republican Party. He represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate...

 (1896–1969) of Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, and commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 on 3 March 1967, with Commander

Commander

Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...

 Curtis B. Shellman, Jr., in command.

1968-1970

Sturgeon spent a month conducting refresher training and then began her shakedown

Shakedown (testing)

A shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a relatively short period of use, and those that survive this period can be expected to...

 cruise on 3 April 1967 down the United States East Coast and to Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

. She returned to Groton for repairs, alterations, maintenance, and training until 18 September 1967, when she departed on extended operations. She returned to port on 2 October 1967 and was transferred to Submarine Development Group 2. On 22 January 1968, she began a five-week antisubmarine warfare exercise to evaluate the relative effectiveness of Sturgeon-class

Sturgeon class submarine

The Sturgeon class were a class of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines in service with the United States Navy from the 1960s until 2004. They were the "work horses" of the submarine attack fleet throughout much of the Cold War...

 and Permit class attack submarines.

Sturgeon began a three-month post-shakedown period of alterations and repairs on 3 March 1968. When the shipyard

Shipyard

Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...

 work was completed in June 1968, she participated in the search for the missing attack submarine in the vicinity of the Azores

Azores

The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...

. She spent July and August 1968 preparing for overseas deployment, then was deployed from September to early November 1968. She participated in tests and evaluation of a new sonar

Sonar

Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...

 detection device from December 1968 to February 1969. She visited the United States Naval Academy

United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...

 at Annapolis

Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, in March 1969 and then held an intensive training period for her crew before deploying from May to July 1969. In April 1969, she was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation

Meritorious Unit Commendation

The Meritorious Unit Commendation is a mid-level unit award of the United States military which is awarded to any military command which displays exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service, heroic deeds, or valorous actions....

 for outstanding service during a period in 1968.

Sturgeon participated in fleet submarine exercises in August and September 1969 and in a project for the Chief of Naval Operations

Chief of Naval Operations

The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...

 from 29 September to 31 October 1969. She was awarded a second Meritorious Unit Commendation, in December 1969, for her service during a period earlier in 1969. After training and preparation for another period at sea, she deployed from 29 January to 8 April 1970. In May and June 1970, she aided in evaluating aircraft antisubmarine warfare tactics and equipment. She spent the period from 1 July to 26 July 1970 in a submarine exercise, and from 15 August to 1 September 1970 in sound trials. On 5 October 1970 she began an overhaul at Groton which lasted until 5 October 1971. While in the shipyard in December 1970, Sturgeon was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation

Navy Unit Commendation

The Navy Unit Commendation of the United States Navy is an award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944...

 for exceptionally meritorious service during a period earlier that year.

1971-1994

When Sturgeon completed her overhaul in October 1971, she was transferred to Submarine Squadron 10 based at New London

New London, Connecticut

New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....

, Connecticut. She held refresher training and completed a shakedown cruise from 6 October to 15 December 1971. The period from 16 December 1971 through 16 January 1972 was a leave and upkeep period. She then participated in two antisubmarine warfare exercises before returning to Groton for repairs and alterations from 6 March to 27 May 1972. She conducted sea trial

Sea trial

A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft . It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.Sea trials are conducted to measure a vessel’s...

s until 15 July 1972, at which time she began a test on sonar systems which lasted until mid-December 1972.

Sturgeon spent the period from 1 January to 2 April 1973 conducting local operations in the Narragansett Bay

Narragansett Bay

Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound. Covering 147 mi2 , the Bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor, and includes a small archipelago...

 area. On 3 April 1973, she departed for the Fleet Weapons Range in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

. On 21 May 1973, she ran aground near St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands

United States Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...

 while making some 10 knots (18.5 kilometers per hour). She sustained damage to her bow and was forced to return to Groton on 4 June 1973 to repair the damage.

Sturgeon returned to sea for local operations from 17 July to 1 October 1973, when she entered the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard

The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard , often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard located in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is used for remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships...

 at Kittery

Kittery, Maine

Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,543 at the 2000 census. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals...

, Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

, to effect bow

Bow (ship)

The bow is a nautical term that refers to the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is most forward when the vessel is underway. Both of the adjectives fore and forward mean towards the bow...

 repairs. She remained in the shipyard until 22 April 1974. After sea trials, she returned to her home port

Home port

A vessel's home port is the port at which it is based, which may not be the same as its port of registry shown on its registration documents and lettered on the stern of the ship's hull...

, New London, for a ten-day upkeep period. She operated from New London until 13 August 1974 when she departed for Norfolk

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, to join other fleet units participating in Atlantic Readiness Exercise 1-75. She then returned to New London to hold local training exercises in preparation for an overseas movement.

Sturgeon stood out to sea on 29 November 1974, en route to the Mediterranean and a scheduled six-month deployment there with the United States Sixth Fleet. She arrived in the Mediterranean on 9 December 1974.

Decommissioning and disposal

Sturgeon was decommissioned

Ship decommissioning

To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....

 on 1 August 1994 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register 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 the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

 the same day. Her scrapping via the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington...

 at Bremerton

Bremerton, Washington

Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...

, Washington, was completed on 11 December 1995.

Commemoration

On 15 September 1995 at the Naval Undersea Museum

Naval Undersea Museum

The Naval Undersea Museum is an official naval museum located at Keyport, Washington, USA. The museum is one of the 12 Navy museums that are operated by the Naval History & Heritage Command. The museum sits next to a branch of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center...

 in Keyport

Keyport, Washington

Keyport is an unincorporated community in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The community is located at the eastern terminus of State Route 308 on the Kitsap Peninsula, east of Subase Bangor. Keyport's ZIP Code, 98345, had a ZCTA population of 554 at the 2010 census, in addition to a...

, Washington, a ceremony commemorated the transfer of Sturgeons sail

Sail (submarine)

In naval parlance, the sail or fin of a submarine is the tower-like structure found on the dorsal surface of submarines...

from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The sail is now located in the museums parking lot.

External links

• hazegray.org: USS Sturgeon