USS Sturgeon (SSN-637)

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Career

Ordered:	30 November 1961
Laid down:	10 August 1963
Launched:	26 February 1966
Commissioned:	3 March 1967
Decommissioned:	1 August 1994
Fate:	submarine recycling
Stricken:	1 August 1994
General Characteristics
Displacement:	4010 tons light, 4309 tons full, 299 tons dead
Length:	89 meters (292 feet)
Beam:	9.7 meters (32 feet)
Draft:	8.8 meters (29 feet)
Propulsion:	S3G Core 3 reactor with a S5W Steam Plant
Speed:	25 knots
Complement:	14 officers, 95 men
Armament:	four 21 inch torpedo tubes
Motto:

USS Sturgeon (SSN-637), the lead ship of her class of nuclear attack submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sturgeon, a large, bony-plated fish with an elongated body that is an important source of caviar and isinglass.

The contract to build Sturgeon was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 30 November 1961 and her keel was laid down on 10 August 1963. She was launched on 26 February 1966 sponsored by Mrs. Everett Dirksen, and commissioned on 3 March 1967, with Commander Curtis B. Shellman, Jr. in command.

Sturgeon spent a month conducting refresher training and then began her shakedown cruise on 3 April down the East Coast and to Puerto Rico. She returned to Groton for availability, maintenance, and training until 18 September when she departed on extended submarine operations. She returned to port two weeks later and was transferred to Development Group 2. On 22 January 1968, the ship began a five-week antisubmarine exercise to evaluate the relative effectiveness of Sturgeon- and Permit-class submarines.

Sturgeon began a three-month post-shakedown availability on 3 March. When the yard work was completed in June, she participated in the search for Scorpion (SSN-589) in the vicinity of the Azores. She spent July and August preparing for overseas deployment from September to early November. The submarine participated in tests and evaluation of a new sonar detection device from December 1968 to February 1969. She visited the United States Naval Academy in March and then held an intensive training period for her crew before deploying from May to July. In April, the submarine was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation for outstanding service during a period in 1968.

Sturgeon participated in fleet submarine exercises in August and September and in a project for the Chief of Naval Operations from 29 September to 31 October. The submarine was awarded a second Meritorious Unit Commendation, in December, for her service during a period in 1969. After training and preparation for another period at sea, the ship deployed from 29 January to 8 April 1970. In May and June, she aided in evaluating aircraft antisubmarine warfare tactics and equipment. The period 1 July to 26 July was spent in a submarine exercise, and from 15 August to 1 September, in sound trials. On 5 October 1970 she began an overhaul at Groton, Connecticut, which lasted until 5 October 1971. While in the yard in December 1970, Sturgeon was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for exceptionally meritorious service during a period of that year.

When Sturgeon completed her overhaul in October, she was transferred to Submarine Squadron 10 based at New London, Connecticut. She held refresher training and completed a shakedown cruise from 6 October to 15 December. The period 16 December 1971 through 16 January 1972 was a leave and upkeep period. She then participated in two antisubmarine exercises before returning to Groton for restricted availability from 6 March to 27 May. The submarine conducted sea trials until 15 July 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 area. On 3 April, she sailed to the Fleet Weapons Range in the Caribbean Sea. On 21 May, the submarine ran aground near St. Croix while making some ten knots. She sustained damage to her bow and was forced to return to Groton on 4 June to repair the damage. She returned to sea for local operations from 17 July to 1 October 1973 when she entered the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to effect bow repairs. She remained in the yard until 22 April 1974. After sea trials, she returned to her home port for a ten-day upkeep period. The submarine operated from there until 13 August when she sailed to Norfolk, Virginia, 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, en route to the Mediterranean Sea and a scheduled six-month deployment with the Sixth Fleet. She arrived there on 9 December 1974.

20 more years of history go here

Sturgeon was decommissioned on 1 August 1994 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 August 1994. Ex-Sturgeon entered the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program in Bremerton, Washington, and on 11 December 1995 ceased to exist, with one exception.

On September 15, 1995 at the Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, Washington, a ceremony commemorated the transfer of the Sturgeon's sail from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The sail is now located in the museum parking lot.