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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patches contributed by Mike Smolinski

Darter (SS-576)

Radio Call Sign: November - Delta - Lima - Mike

Darter Class Submarine: Laid down, 10 November 1954, at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Co., Groton, CT.; Launched, 28 May 1956; Commissioned, USS Darter (SS-576), 20 October 1956; Decommissioned, 12 December 1989; Struck from the Naval Register, 17 June 1990; Final Disposition, sunk as a target on 7 January 1992 by the Tautog (SSN-639) off Pearl Harbor.

Specifications: Displacement, Surface 1,871 t., Submerged: 2,388 t.; Length 283' ; Beam 27'; Draft 19'; Speed, Surfaced 15.5 kts, Submerged 16 kts; Maximum Operating Depth, 700 ft.; Complement 8 Officers 75 Enlisted; Armament, six 21" torpedo tubes (fwd), two 21" torpedo tubes (aft); Propulsion, diesel-electric, two propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
83k	Darter (SS-576) inboard profile, as built (Jan. 1957). The upper transducer in the bow is for BQS-2, the lower, for BQR-2, with a UQC-1 underwater telephone transducer in the fore end of the big sonar dome, and a UQN-1B (sounder) transducer in its bottom. The big tube under the nest of six bow tubes is the ejector pump (like the tubes, it had a shutter in the bow). Note that, unlike a fleet boat, *Darter* had a single engine room abaft her crew spaces, containing three engines side by side (types 2A & 6, the latter carrying the ST range only radar); a fixed whip (starboard side); the SS 2A radar mast (port); the UHF-IFF antenna; the retractable whip (port); the ECM/DF antenna (port) with a VLF loop (starboard) alongside; and the snorkel induction and exhaust. *Darter* introduced the type of snorkel mast used in all later U.S. subs). As in contemporary submarines, the ECM mast carries a series of stub dipoles along its length, with the dome of the direction-finder at the top. There was also a UQC-1 transducer on top of the sail, roughly alongside the UHF-IFF mast. The line of masts divides the space below the sail into a control room to port and an attack center to starboard, with seperate radio room abaft the control room and sonar room abaft the attack center. Unlike a WW II sub (or a Tang class (SS-563/68)), *Darter* had her plane controls athwartships, on the forward bulkhead of the control room, alongside the helm. The six main controls, automatic depth control and UQC were all against the side of the pressure hull.	Photo & text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Since 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman & James L. Christley.Naval Institute Press.
85k	Darter (SS-576) at Palma, Majorca, Jan, 1968.	Photo by Ed Sherman, STS2(SS).
589k	A high angle view of the attack submarine Darter (SS-576), the guided missile destroyer Berkeley (DDG-15) and the frigate Hepburn (FF-1055) docked at the pier of Naval Station Subic Bay, P.I., 28 Aug 1981.	USN photo # DN-ST-82-01661, by PHC Larry Foster, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil, Defense Visual Information Center. Photo i.d. courtesy of Dave Johnston.
704k	A high angle starboard bow view of the attack submarine Darter (SS-576), underway off the coast of the Philippines, 14 Sep 1981.	USN photo # DN-ST-84-00332, by PHCS Harris, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil, Defense Visual Information Center.
44k	Darter (SS-576), in Drydock #2 at SSK Heavy Industries, Sasebo Japan, March 1984.	Photo by Dave Johnston.
78k	Darter's (SS-576) Plan of the Day for my first day on board, 20 Feb. 1984. Note that the listed duty officer is Ensign Ray Everts, USN. Ray was later killed in the line of duty in the battery fire and explosion aboard the Bonefish (SS-582) in April, 1988.	Photo by Dave Johnston.
164k	Darter (SS-576), in Drydock #2, SSK Heavy Industries, Sasebo, Japan, March 1984. In the dock astern of the *Darter* is the USCGC Basswood (WLB-388).	Photo by Dave Johnston.
156k	Barbel (SS-580) and Darter (SS-576), alongside at Subic Bay, November 1984.	Photo by Dave Johnston.
106k	Darter (SS-576), making her way up the channel into Pearl Harbor, just off Hospital Point, 10 May 1985.	Dave Johnston.
215k	Barbel (SS-580) and Darter (SS-576), at Sub base Pearl Harbor, June 1985. The Topside Watch on the *Darter* is TMSN(SS) Russ Dzielak and TMSA Jeff Buzzard. Directly astern of the duo is the Queenfish (SSN-651).	Photo by Dave Johnston.
389k	A port bow view of the submarine Darter (SS-576) departing Pearl Harbor, possibly in June 1985.	USN photo # DN-SC-92-06500, by OS2 John Bouvia, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil, Defense Visual Information Center. Photo i.d. courtesy of Dave Johnston.
364k	Swordfish (SSN-579), Flasher (SSN-613) & Darter (SS-576) alongside at Subic Bay Naval Station, February, 1986. It was pretty unusual to see three boats moored abreast in those days, much less three distinct generations of submarine design.	Photo by Dave Johnston.
88k	Darter (SS-576) looking forward in the South China Sea enroute from Sasebo to Subic Bay, February, 1986.	Photo by Dave Johnston.
97k	Darter (SS-576) looking forward in the South China Sea enroute from Sasebo to Subic Bay, February, 1986.	Photo by Dave Johnston.
83k	Darter (SS-576) looking aft in the South China Sea enroute from Sasebo to Subic Bay, February, 1986.	Photo by Dave Johnston.
62k	Swordfish (SSN-579), Flasher (SSN-613) & Darter (SS-576) alongside at Subic Bay Naval Station, February, 1986.	Photo by Dave Johnston.
187k	Darter (SS-576), preparing to get underway, Pier India 8, Fleet Activities, Sasebo, October 1986. Astern of the *Darter* is the St. Louis LKA-116, and the San Bernardino LST-1189.	Photo by Dave Johnston.
163k	Darter (SS-576), port quarter view, moored at Pier India 8, Fleet Activities Sasebo, Japan October, 1986.	Photo by Dave Johnston.
93k	Darter (SS-576), port bow view, getting underway, departing Pier India 8, Fleet Activities Sasebo, Japan October, 1986.	Photo by Dave Johnston.
41k	Darter (SS-576), getting underway, departing Pier India 8, Fleet Activities Sasebo, Japan October, 1986.	Photo by Dave Johnston.
64k	Darter (SS-576), underway, departing Pier India 8, Fleet Activities Sasebo, Japan October, 1986.	Photo by Dave Johnston.
71k	Darter (SS-576), underway, departing Fleet Activities Sasebo, Japan October, 1986.	Photo by Dave Johnston.
372k	Crew members stand atop the attack submarine Darter (SS-576) as the vessel comes into port for an ammunition loading at the Macerate Ordnance Facility on 25 Apr 1989.	USN photo # DN-ST-90-11777, by PH1 Brian R. Lee, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
305k	Crew members stand atop the attack submarine Darter (SS-576) while the vessel is maneuvered away from the pier prior to its departure from Sasebo, 18 Sep 1989.	USN photo # DN-SC-90-11781 by PH1 Brian R. Lee, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil, Defense Visual Information Center.
81k	Undated photo of the Darter (SS-576) with the "E" for excellence adorning her sail.	US Navy photo courtesy of Wendell Royce McLaughlin Jr.
61k	Undated photo of the Darter (SS-576).	Photo courtesy of Robert Hurst. Photo added 10/10/06.
25k	Darter (SS-576) in the foreground about to be sunk as a target by the Tautog (SSN-639), 7 January 1992.	US Navy photo courtesy of diodon349.com.
172k	This picture shows one of the two screws from the Darter (SS-576). To my knowledge, it is the only major piece of the boat still in existence. It is part of the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association's Pampanito (SS-383) museum at Fisherman's Wharf.	Photo and text by Dave Johnston.
276k	Mk 37 Mod 2 torpedo of the type carried by the Darter (SS-576), and other submarines during the Cold War. A 19 inch diameter weapon powered by batteries, it swam out of the tube instead of the traditional impulse shot, making it hard for the enemy to detect. Early versions of this torpedo were notoriously finicky. An overheating battery that lead to an explosion is one of the leading theories of the loss of the Scorpion (SSN-589). During the 80's, the *Darter* normally carried two of these weapons in her after torpedo room, although up to four could be carried if two were tube loaded. Carried as a supplement to the normal loadout of Mk 48's in the forward torpedo room, they were mostly intended to be shot at pursuers during an evasion. The *Darter* had the honor of shooting the last Mk 37 exercise rounds during a Tactical Readiness Evaluation at Pearl Harbor in June, 1985. That same month she offloaded the last operational Mk 37 warshots, sending them to storage. This particular weapon is part of the Lexington CVT-16 museum at Corpus Christi, Texas.	Photo by Dave Johnston. Photo added 10/10/06.