USS Billfish (SSN-676)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Billfish.

300px USS Billfish (SSN-676) early in 1971 (picture taken during first sea trial).
History
United States
Name:	USS Billfish (SSN-676)
Ordered:	15 July 1966
Builder:	The Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down:	20 September 1968
Launched:	1 May 1970
Commissioned:	12 March 1971
Decommissioned:	1 July 1999
Struck:	1 July 1999
Motto:	Spirit of 76
Fate:	Scrapping via Ship and Submarine Recycling Program completed 26 April 2000
Badge:	200px
General characteristics
Class & type:	Sturgeon-class attack submarine
Displacement:	3,978 long tons (4,042 t) light 4,270 long tons (4,339 t) full 292 long tons (297 t) dead
Length:	292 ft 3 in (89.08 m)
Beam:	31 ft 8 in (9.65 m)
Draft:	28 ft 8 in (8.74 m)
Installed power:	15,000 shaft horsepower (11.2 megawatts)
Propulsion:	One S5W nuclear reactor, two steam turbines, one screw
Speed:	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) surfaced 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) submerged
Test depth:	1,300 feet (396 meters)
Complement:	109 (14 officers, 95 enlisted men)
Armament:	4 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes

USS Billfish (SSN-676), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the billfish, a name used for any fish, such as gar or spearfish, with bill-shaped jaws.

Construction and commissioning

File:USS Billfish (SSN-676) launching.jpg

Billfish being launched at Groton, Connecticut, on 1 May 1970.

The contract to build Billfish was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 15 July 1966 and her keel was laid down on 20 September 1968. She was launched on 1 May 1970 sponsored by Mrs. Earle G. Wheeler, the wife of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Earle G. Wheeler (1908–1975), and commissioned on 12 March 1971 with Commander Richard M. Hughes in command.

Service history

File:DSRV-2 Avalon aboard USS Billfish (SSN-676).jpg

The Mystic-class deep submergence rescue vehicle DSRV-2 Avalon aboard Billfish.

Billfish was one of the few submarines fitted to carry Mystic class deep submergence rescue vehicle during the 1980s.

Decommissioning and disposal

Billfish was decommissioned on 1 July 1999 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day. Her scrapping via the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, was completed on 26 April 2000.

File:USS Billfish (SSN-676) pierside.jpg

Billfish pierside.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
• NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive Billfish (SSN-676)

External links

• USS Billfish SSN 676 (Web site created by former USS Billfish (SSN-676) crew member)