USS Grayling (SSN-646)

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

USS Grayling (SSN-646)
History
United States
Name	Grayling
Namesake	The grayling, a fresh water game fish closely related to the trout
Awarded	5 September 1962
Builder	Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
Laid down	12 May 1964
Launched	22 June 1967
Sponsored by	Miss Lori Brinker
Commissioned	11 October 1969
Decommissioned	18 July 1997
Stricken	18 July 1997
Identification	Hull number: SSN-646
Fate	Scrapping via Ship and Submarine Recycling Program completed 31 March 1998
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Sturgeon-class attack submarine
Displacement	3,956 long tons (4,019 t) light 4,252 long tons (4,320 t) full 296 long tons (301 t) dead
Length	289 ft (88 m)
Beam	32 ft (9.8 m)
Draft	29 ft (8.8 m)
Installed power	15,000 shp (11 MW)
Propulsion	One S5W nuclear reactor, two steam turbines, one screw
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) standard
Test depth	1,300 ft (400 m)
Complement	109 (14 officers, 95 enlisted men)
Armament	4 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes

USS Grayling (SSN-646), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was the fifth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the grayling. Her keel was laid down in 1964, and she was launched just over three years later, and commissioned in 1969. She was involved in the submarine incident off Kola Peninsula on 20 March 1993, when she collided with the Russian Navy submarine Novomoskovsk. She was decommissioned in 1997, and disposed of a year later.

Construction and commissioning

The contract to build Grayling was awarded on 5 September 1962 and her keel was laid down at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Maine, on 12 May 1964. She was launched on 22 June 1967, sponsored by Miss Lori Brinker, the daughter of Lieutenant Commander Robert Brinker, who was commanding officer of the previous Grayling (SS-209) when she was lost with all hands in September 1943 during World War II. Grayling (SSN-646) was commissioned on 11 October 1969.

Service history

Collision with Russian submarine, 1993

Main article: Submarine incident off Kola Peninsula

On 20 March 1993, Grayling collided with the Russian Navy submarine Novomoskovsk,^[1][2] a Delfin-class (NATO reporting name Delta IV-class) ballistic missile submarine north of Murmansk. Grayling had been tracking the Russian unit when the collision happened.^[3] The American submarine collided with the starboard bow of Novomoskovsk; neither submarine sustained serious damage.^[4]

1993–1997

In June 1996, Grayling took part in Exercise TAPON 96,^[5] a North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercise held in the Alboran Sea, Gulf of Cadiz, and eastern Atlantic Ocean, along with the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Conolly, the Spanish aircraft carrier Príncipe de Asturias, the Spanish frigates Baleares, Santa María, and Numancia, the Spanish submarine Delfin, and the Greek destroyer Formion.

Decommissioning and disposal

Grayling was deactivated on 1 March 1997, placed in commission in reserve a week later as she entered the Ship and Submarine Recycling Program, then decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 18 July 1997. Her scrapping via the U.S. Navy's Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Washington, was completed on 31 March 1998.

Commemoration

Grayling's sail is now a memorial on the grounds of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Maine, and her anchor and chain are on display as a memorial at The American Legion Post 106 in downtown Grayling, Michigan.

See also

• Submarine incident off Kildin island

Notes

1. "President witnesses strategic missile force's failure". 17 February 2004. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
2. "Collision of Two U.S. Nuclear Powered Submarines on March 19, 1998". Center for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, 8 April 1998.
3. U.S. and Russian Subs in Collision In Arctic Ocean Near Murmansk by Michael E. Gordon. The New York Times, 23 March 1993
4. Sontag, Sherry and Drew, Christopher (1998). Blind Man's Bluff: The untold story of American submarine espionage. Thorndyke press, p. 590. ISBN 0786218762
5. USS Grayling (SSN-646), History, Patrols and Crews Archived 12 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Mesothelioma Web Organization. Retrieved on 25 May 2013

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 Grayling (SSN-646)