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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patches contributed by Mike Smolinski

Halibut (SSGN-587) (SSN-587)
Active Career - Decommissioning

Radio Call Sign: November - Alpha - Quebec - Hotel

To Additional Pages

Keel Laying - Launching
Commissioning

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
Presidential Unit Citation - Navy Unit Commendation (3) - National Defense Service Medal

Halibut Class Guided Missile Submarine: Laid down, 11 April 1957, at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA.; Launched, 9 January 1959; Commissioned, USS Halibut (SSGN-587), 4 January 1960; Converted to an Attack Submarine at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, 6 February 1975 to 6 September 1975, Redesignated (SSN-587), 15 April 1975; Decommissioned, 30 June 1976; Laid up awaiting disposal through the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program (NPSSRP) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA., at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA.; Struck from the Naval Register, 30 April 1986; Final Disposition; disposed of through NPSSRP, 9 September 1994.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 3,655 t., Submerged: 5,000 t.; Length 350'; Beam 29'; Complement 9 Officers 88 Enlisted; Armament, one Regulus missile launcher, (could carry *five* Regulus I missiles, and potentially could have carried the Reg II but that program was cancelled before it ever got the chance), six 21" torpedo tubes; Propulsion, S3G nuclear reactors, **double five bladed propellers. **(Contributed by Don Hulse, EMC9SS0 USN RET).

Size	Image Description	Source
40k	Artists conception of Halibut (SSGN-587) firing a Regulus missile.	Courtesy of Nick Spark.
113k	Halibut (SSGN-587) firing a Regulus missile in front of the Lexington (CV-16) , 25 March 1960, the first nuclear powered submarine to successfully launch a guided missile.	Courtesy of Nick Spark.
66k	The Halibut (SSGN-587) departed for her shakedown cruise 11 March 1960. On the way to Australia, 25 March, she became the first nuclear powered submarine to successfully launch a guided missile. She is pictured here firing a Regulus 1 missile on 31st March 1960.	USN photo courtesy of Robert Hirst. Partial text courtesy of DANFS.
50k	The Halibut (SSGN-587) firing a Regulus I missile on 31 March 1960.	USN photo courtesy of NARA.
217k	Periscope shot of a Regulus missile launched by the Halibut (SSGN-587) 25 March 1960.	USN photo courtesy of Don Hulse, EMC9-SS0 (USN RET.)
282k	Crew of the Halibut (SSGN-587) lined up on deck for one of our inspections and award ceremonies. Note the Regulus missles on deck and on dock at Pearl Harbor, circa, 1960-62.	USN photo & text courtesy of Don Hulse, EMC9-SS0 (USN RET.)
41k	Commemorative postal cover issued on the occasion of Halibut's (SSGN-587) visit to Austrailia, 4 May 1960.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
79k	Halibut (SSGN-587), and Regulas missle in Sydney Harbor with the British submarine *HMS Anchorite* outboard, circa early 60's.	Courtesy of Gary Flynn, USN-RET ex-GSSN, MT3 (SS), ETC (SS), and CWO-4
164k	Halibut (SSGN-587), firing Regulus missile, date and place unknown.	US Navy photo courtesy chinfo.navy.mil
58k	Halibut (SSGN-587), with a full head of nuclear steam.	Courtesy of Gary Flynn, USN-RET ex-GSSN, MT3 (SS), ETC (SS), and CWO-4
112k	Halibut (SSGN-587), at Pearl Harbor, date unknown	© Richard Leonhardt
604k	Halibut (SSGN-587), underway. Date and location unknown.	From the collection of W.P. Jones. U.S. Navy photo.
24k	Bows on view of the Halibut (SSGN-587) underway, date and location unknown.	Courtesy of goatlocker.org.
73k	Halibut (SSGN-587) underway off Bremerton, WA.	Courtesy of goatlocker.org.
135k	Starboard view of the Halibut (SSGN-587) underway, possibly circa early 1970's.	Courtesy of Thomas McLoughlin.
56k	Front cover of the decommissioning program for the Halibut (SSGN-587) at Mare Island on 30 Jun 1976.	U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
62k	Page 1 of the decommissioning program for the Halibut (SSGN-587) at Mare Island on 30 Jun 1976.	U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
116k	Page 2 of the decommissioning program for the Halibut (SSGN-587) at Mare Island on 30 Jun 1976.	U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
96k	Page 3 of the decommissioning program for the Halibut (SSGN-587) at Mare Island on 30 Jun 1976.	U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
50k	Page 4 of the decommissioning program for the Halibut (SSGN-587) at Mare Island on 30 Jun 1976.	U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
50k	Page 5 and 6 of the decommissioning program for the Halibut (SSGN-587) at Mare Island on 30 Jun 1976.	U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
67k	Page 7 of the decommissioning program for the Halibut (SSGN-587) at Mare Island on 30 Jun 1976.	U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
72k	Page 8 of the decommissioning program for the Halibut (SSGN-587) at Mare Island on 30 Jun 1976.	U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
81k	Page 9 of the decommissioning program for the Halibut (SSGN-587) at Mare Island on 30 Jun 1976.	U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
101k	Capt. Charles R. Larson, Commanding Officer of Halibut (SSGN-587) addresses a crowd of over 500 persons at the decommissioning of the ship at Mare Island on 30 Jun 1976.	U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
48k	The flag is lowered for the last time aboard the Halibut (SSGN-587) at the decommissioning ceremonies at Mare Island on 30 Jun 1976.	U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
23k	Commemorative postal cover marking the Halibut (SSGN-587) last day in commission, 30 Jun 1976.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
24k	Commemorative postal cover marking the Halibut (SSGN-587) decommissioning, 30 Jun 1976.	Courtesy of Richard Leonhardt.
141k	Model of the Halibut (SSGN-587) in her later (1970's) Special Operations version.	Photo courtesy of Tom Dougherty.
62k	Model of the Halibut (SSGN-587) , at the time of her decommissioning. The model is incorrect, in that it has fairings leading to the leading edge of the rear planes.	Courtesy of Nick Spark.
83k	Trench 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. Photo added 02/05/04.
569k	Sealed 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.