USS Flying Fish (SSN-673)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Flying Fish.
USS Flying Fish (SSN-673) off Norfolk, Virginia, ca. 1972-1973.
Career (United States)
Name: USS Flying Fish
Namesake: The flying fish
Ordered: 15 July 1966
Builder: Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation at Groton, Connecticut
Laid down: 30 June 1967
Launched: 17 May 1969
Sponsored by: Mrs. John W. Harvey
Commissioned: 29 April 1970
Decommissioned: 16 May 1996
Struck: 16 May 1996
Honors and
awards:
Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for U.S. Atlantic Fleet 1976
Fate: Scrapping via Ship and Submarine Recycling Program completed 15 October 1996
General characteristics
Class and 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 Flying Fish (SSN-673), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the flying fish, any of number of fishes of tropic and warm temperate seas whose long winglike fins make it possible for them to move some distance through the air.

Construction and commissioning

The contract to build Flying Fish was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 15 July 1966 and her keel was laid down there on 30 June 1967. She was launched on 17 May 1969, sponsored by Mrs. John W. Harvey, and commissioned on 29 April 1970 with Commander Donald C. Shelton in command.

Service history

May 1995 Mine laying exercises, Joint Service Special Warfare operations - Operational Test Launch of Tomahawk cruise missile.

Decommissioning and disposal

Flying Fish was decommissioned on 16 May 1996 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 15 October 1996.

References