USS Cavalla (SSN-684)

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

USS Cavalla (SSN-684) USS Cavalla (SSN-684) exiting the harbor at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 1 January 1997 with the Arizona Memorial in the background.
History
Name:	USS Cavalla (SSN-684)
Namesake:	The cavalla, a salt-water fish
Ordered:	24 July 1968
Builder:	General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down:	4 June 1970
Launched:	19 February 1972
Sponsored by:	Mr. And Mrs. Christopher S. Oakley
Commissioned:	9 February 1973
Decommissioned:	30 March 1998
Struck:	30 March 1998
Motto:	Latino party vessel"
Honors and awards:	Meritorious Unit Commendation 1986, Battle E, Engineering E, Tactical Ops T
Fate:	Scrapping via Ship and Submarine Recycling Program completed 17 November 2000
General characteristics
Class & type:	Sturgeon-class attack submarine
Displacement:	4,193 long tons (4,260 t) light 4,498 long tons (4,570 t) full 305 long tons (310 t) dead
Length:	302 ft 3 in (92.13 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:	110 (12 officers, 98 enlisted men)
Armament:	4 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes

USS Cavalla (SSN-684), a Sturgeon-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the cavalla, a salt water fish. Although it was a Sturgeon class design, Cavalla was a modified "long hull" boat, approximately 10 feet (3.0 m) longer than the earlier ships in its class.

Construction and commissioning

The contract to build Cavalla was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 24 July 1968 and her keel was laid down there on 4 June 1970. She was launched on 19 February 1972 sponsored by Mrs. Melvin Price, and commissioned on 9 February 1973, with Commander (later Admiral) Bruce DeMars in command.

Service history

Arrival at Pearl Harbor, 1980

Cavalla operated as part of Submarine Development Squadron 12 at Submarine Base New London (Groton, CT) during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In mid-1980, Cavalla moved to her new home port at Submarine Base Pearl Harbor at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where she was assigned to Submarine Squadron 1. Her operations from Pearl Harbor covered the globe, including the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic Oceans.

In 1983, Cavalla became the first submarine to successfully perform dry deck shelter—a tank attached to the after deck back of the submarine allowing personnel to leave the submarine while submerged—operations in 1983.

During her Western Pacific deployment of 1985–1986, Cavalla supported critical dry deck shelter operations for SEAL team certification. She was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation for these operations. In addition to this award, her crew members also earned various U.S. Navy ceremonial certificates during this same deployment: "shellback" status for crossing the equator, the Order of the Ditch on two occasions for transiting the Panama Canal, the Domain of the Golden Dragon on two occasions for crossing the International Date Line, and the Order of the Spanish Main for operating in the Caribbean Sea.

In 1995, 'Cavalla deployed to the Arctic Ocean for civilian scientific research.

In 1996, Cavalla participated in the very first joint American-Japanese deep submergence rescue vehicle operation.

Decommissioning and disposal

Cavalla was decommissioned on 30 March 1998 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 17 November 2000.

External links

• 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 Cavalla (SSN-684)