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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive


Patch contributed by Mike Smolinski
Radio Call Sign: November - Bravo - Uniform - Juliet

Skate (SSN-578)

Skate Class Submarine: Laid down, 21 July 1955, at General Dynamics Corp. Electric Boat Co. Div., Groton, CT.; Launched, 16 May 1957; Commissioned, USS Skate (SSN-578), 23 December 1957; Decommissioned, 12 September 1986; Struck from the Naval Register, 30 October 1986; Final Disposition, disposed through NPSSRP (Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA., 14 April 1994 to 6 March 1995.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 2,570 t., Submerged: 2,861 t.; Length 267' 8" ; Beam 25'; Draft 20'; Speed, Surfaced 23 kts, Submerged 18+ kts; Complement 8 Officers, 75 Enlisted; Armament, six 21" torpedo tubes, Propulsion, pressurized water cooled reactor, steam turbines, two propellers.
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For Full Size Image		SizeImage DescriptionSource
Skate51kCommemorative postal cover issued on the occasion of the Skate's (SSN-578) Polar ice Cap cruise, 1958.
Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Skate173kSkate (SSN-578), tying up at the sub base at Groton CT., circa 1958.
Photo courtesy of the Sunday Replublican, Springfield Mass. Submitted by Stan Svec.
Skate30kTwo crewmembers of the Skate (SSN-578) checking meltwater while above the Arctic Circle in 1958.
US Navy photo courtesy of US Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory.
Skate104kLt. William Layman peering through thick porthole covered with leaded glass into reactor for inspection on nuclear submarine Skate (SSN-578), 1958.
Photographer: Hank Walker, courtesy of time.com. via / images.google.com & Life. Photo added 11/27/08.
Skate131kSailors aboard nuclear submarine Skate (SSN-578) pushing torpedo in place near tube as other sailor sleeps on bunk below, 1958.
Photographer: Hank Walker, courtesy of time.com. via / images.google.com & Life. Photo added 11/27/08.
Skate100kComm. James Calvert looking through periscope in control center aboard nuclear submarine Skate (SSN-578).
Photographer: Hank Walker, courtesy of time.com. via / images.google.com & Life. Photo added 11/27/08.
Skate187kBritish sailors looking at nuclear submarine Skate (SSN-578) emerging at Portland, England after the first submerged crossing of the Atlantic, 1958. Photographer: Hank Walker, courtesy of time.com. via / images.google.com & Life. Photo added 11/27/08.
Skate56kThree crewmembers of the Skate (SSN-578) checking the ice on deck while above the Arctic Circle in 1959.
US Navy photo courtesy of US Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory.
Skate24kSkate (SSN-578), surfaced at the North Pole, 17 March 1959.
US Navy photo courtesy of tripod.com
Skate63k Skate (SSN-578) moored to the ice at floatime ice station Alpha.
Photo courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Skate62kCommemorative postal cover issued on the occasion of the Skate (SSN-578), as the first Submarine to surface at the North Pole, 17 March 1959.
Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Skate63kCommemorative postal cover issued on the occasion of the Skate (SSN-578), during her Polar Ice cap cruise at the North Pole, 1959.
Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Skate30kCommemorative postal cover issued on the occasion of the Skate (SSN-578), breaking the Trans-Atlantic speed record.
Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Skate125kVice Admiral James F. Calvert played a key role in developing nuclear submarine Arctic tactics during his tour as commanding officer of the Skate (SSN-578) from December 1957 to September 1959. Skate surfaced at the North Pole in February 1959. During this tour, Calvert also helped define the operational capabilities of the Navy's first series-production class of nuclear submarine.
Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Calvert graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in June 1942 and from Submarine School in September of that year. He was awarded the Silver Star and the Bronze Star while serving aboard the submarine Jack (SS-259) during World War II.
He also served as executive officer aboard the Haddo (SS-255) in 1945. Following the war, he served as executive officer aboard the Charr (SS-328) and Harder (SS-568) and as commanding officer of the Trigger (SS-564).
Calvert served as Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy from 1968 to 1972.
US Navy photo courtesy of navy.mil. & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
Submarine Silhouettes 1960179kSubmarine Silhouettes of 1960:
Nautilus (SSN-571), Seawolf (SSN-575), Skate (SSN-578), Skipjack (SS-585), Triton (SSRN-586), Halibut (SSGN-587), Thresher (SSN-593), Tullibee (SSN-597), George Washington (SSBN-598), & Ethan Allen (SSBN-608) classes.
U.S. Navy Photograph submitted by Ron Titus, courtesy of Ingersoll-Rand. Corp.
Nuclear Submarine Profiles187kNuclear Submarine Profiles 1960:
Nautilus (SSN-571),
Seawolf (SSN-575),
Triton (SSRN-586),
Skate (SSN-578) & Skipjack (SS-585) classes,
Halibut (SSGN-587) & Tullibee (SSN-597) classes,
George Washington (SSBN-598) &
Thresher (SSN-593) classes. 		US Navy photo courtesy of Ron Titus courtesy of Ingersoll-Rand. Corp. Photo i.d. courtesy of Dave Johnston.
Skate175k Port side view of the Skate (SSN-578), possibly after she returned to General Dynamics Corp. in January 1961 for a regular overhaul and to have her reactor refueled for the first time.
Photo courtesy of Jack Treutle. Text courtesy of DANFS.
Skate67kSkate (SSN-578), at the North Pole, 1962.
US Navy photo.
Seadragon 70k Seadragon (SSN-584), foreground, and her sister Skate (SSN-578) during a rendezvous at the North Pole in August 1962. Note the men on the ice beyond the submarines.
USN photo from The American Submarine, by Norman Polmar, submitted by Robert Hurst.
Seadragon 31k Commemorative postal cover issued on the occasion of the Seadragon (SSN-584) & Skate (SSN-578) for the first rendezvous at the North Pole, August 1962. Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Skate32kSkate (SSN-578), above the Arctic Circle in 1962.
US Navy photo courtesy of US Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory.
Skate40kSkate (SSN-578), and Seadragon (SSN-584) surfaced at the North Pole, 1962.
US Navy photo courtesy of US Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory.
Skate73kThe Skate (SSN-578) above the Arctic Circle in 1971.
US Navy photo courtesy of US Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory.
PSNSY 683k An aerial view of a section of the Ship Intermediate Maintenance Facility at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on 17 May 1993. One submarine tender and 16 decommissioned nuclear-powered submarines are shown including the Seawolf (SSN-575); six George Washington, and Lafayette class SSBN's (with their missile sections cut out) plus several Skate, Skipjack, Permit and Sturgeon class SSN's. All are awaiting scrapping.
Bottom row, from left to right Thomas A. Edison (SSBN-610), Skipjack (SS-585), Snook (SSN-592), Henry Clay (SSBN-625), Lapon (SSN-661), Dace (SSN-607), Skate (SSN-578), Swordfish (SSN-579), Sargo (SSN-583) , Seadragon (SSN-584).
Across the pier are Thomas Jefferson (SSBN-618), and not in view, Patrick Henry (SSBN-599), George Washington (SSBN-598), Barb (SSN-596) & Sea Devil (SSN-664).
Official U.S. Navy Photograph # DN-ST-95-01863, by Calvin Larsen, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. Photo i.d. courtesy of David Johnston (USN).
PSNSY291k"Sign of the times." March 1994 photo of Nuclear submarines at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard waiting in line for scrapping.
Top row left to right are Ethan Allen (SSBN-608), Seawolf (SSN-575), Plunger (SSN-595), Shark (SSN-591), Nathanael Greene (SSBN-636), Glenard P. Lipscomb (SSN-685) alongside Sperry (AS-12), with Triton (SSRN-586) across the pier from the Sperry .
Bottom row, from left to right Thomas A. Edison (SSBN-610), Skipjack (SS-585), Snook (SSN-592), Henry Clay (SSBN-625), Lapon (SSN-661), Dace (SSN-607), Skate (SSN-578), Swordfish (SSN-579), Sargo (SSN-583) , Seadragon (SSN-584).
Across the pier are Thomas Jefferson (SSBN-618), and not in view, Patrick Henry (SSBN-599), George Washington (SSBN-598), Barb (SSN-596) & Sea Devil (SSN-664).
There are so many submarines at PSNSY that the yard is running out of pier space.
Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Reactor Compartments83kTrench 94, Hanford Site, Washington, 1994. Hull sections containing defueled reactor compartments of decommissioned nuclear-powered submarines are put in disposal trenches. Once full, the trench will be filled with dirt and buried. The compartments are expected to retain their integrity for more than 600 years. USN photo & partial text courtesy of home.flash.net/~tomj/tunny/chop/rx. & submitted by Jack Treutle.
Spent Fuel569kSealed reactor compartments are shipped by barge out of Puget Sound Naval Base down the coast and along the Columbia River to the port of Benton. There the radioactively-contaminated hull sections are transferred to special multiwheeled high-load trailers for transport to the Hanford Reservation in Washington State. Pictured below is the burial ground for spent fuel of the following 77 nuclear reactor submarines as of March 2003:
Patrick Henry (SSBN-599),
Snook (SSN-592),
George Washington (SSBN-598),
Scamp (SSN-588),
Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601),
Thomas Jefferson (SSBN-618),
Theodore Roosevelt (SSBN-600),
Dace (SSN-607),
John Adams (SSBN-620),
Abraham Lincoln (SSBN-602),
Barb (SSN-596),
Ethan Allen (SSBN-608),
Thomas A. Edison (SSBN-610),
Pollack (SSN-603),
Glenard P. Lipscomb (SSN-685),
James Monroe (SSBN-622),
Skipjack (SS-585),
Nathan Hale (SSBN-623),
Plunger (SSN-595),
Shark (SSN-591),
Lafayette (SSBN-616),
Sam Houston (SSBN-609),
Jack (SSN-605),
Haddo (SSN-604),
Tinosa (SSN-606),
Guardfish (SSN-612),
Permit (SSN-594),
Queenfish (SSN-651),
Ulysses S. Grant (SSBN-631),
John Marshall (SSBN-611),
George C. Marshall (SSBN-654),
Flasher (SSN-613),
Guitarro (SSN-665),
Alexander Hamilton (SSBN-617),
George Washington Carver (SSBN-656),
Tecumseh (SSBN-628),
Halibut (SSGN-587),
Will Rogers (SSBN-659),
Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655),
Daniel Boone (SSBN-629),
Greenling (SSN-614),
John C. Calhoun (SSBN-630),
Casimir Pulaski (SSBN-633),
Skate (SSN-578),
Sargo (SSN-583),
Francis Scott Key (SSBN-657),
Sturgeon (SSN-637),
Benjamin Franklin (SSBN-640),
Swordfish (SSN-579),
Seadragon (SSN-584),
Stonewall Jackson (SSBN-634),
Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641),
Hammerhead (SSN-663),
Mariano G. Vallejo (SSBN-658) ,
Tullibee (SSN-597),
Lewis & Clark (SSBN-644),
Pargo (SSN-650),
Seahorse (SSN-669),
Gurnard (SSN-662),
Flying Fish (SSN-673),
Gato (SSN-615),
Puffer (SSN-652),
Seawolf (SSN-575),
Baton Rouge (SSN-689),
Bergall (SSN-667),
Whale (SSN-638),
Henry Clay (SSBN-625),
James Madison (SSBN-627),
Finback (SSN-670),
Spadefish (SSN-668),
Sunfish (SSN-649),
George Bancroft (SSBN-643),
Grayling (SSN-646),
Pintado (SSN-672),
Tunny (SSN-682),
Archerfish (SSN-678),
& Woodrow Wilson (SSBN-624).
USN photo & partial text courtesy of home.flash.net/~tomj/tunny/chop/rx. & submitted by Jack Treutle.
View the Skate (SSN-578)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Michael Mensch's USS SKATE (SSN 578) Page
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