Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Radio Call Sign: November - Victor - India - Quebec

Guardfish (SSN-612)

Thresher Class Attack Submarine: Laid down, 13 February 1961, at New York Shipbuilding Corp, Camden, NJ.; Launched, 15 May 1965; Commissioned, USS Guardfish (SSN-612), 20 December 1966; Decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register, 2 February 1992; Laid up at Bremerton Naval Shipyard; Final Disposition, entered the NPSSRP (Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA., completed 9 July 1992.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 3,540 t., Submerged: 4,200 t.; Length 278' 5"; Beam 31' 8"; ; Speed, Surfaced 15 kts, Submerged 28+ kts; Operating Depth 400'; Complement, 143; Sensors, BQR-5 bow mounted sonar, TB-26 Towed Sonar Array; Armament, four 21" torpedo tubes, forward, MK 48 torpedoes, UUM-44A SUBROC, UGM-84A/C Harpoon, MK 57 deep water mines, Mk 60 CAPTOR mines; Propulsion System, one S5W nuclear reactor, two Westinghouse steam turbines, one propeller 15,000 shp.

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
179k	Submarine 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.
187k	Nuclear 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. Photo added 09/24/07.
81k	The Guardfish (SSN-612) stands on the beginning of the launching ways on 15 May 1965.	USN photo courtesy of Robert Hurst.
211k	Guardfish (SSN-612) launching ceremony at New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey on 15 May 1965.	USN photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
71k	Guardfish (SSN-612) sliding down the launching ways at New York Shipbuilding Corp, Camden, NJ. 15 May 1965.	Courtesy of John Hummel.
122k	Commemorative post mark of the launching of Guardfish (SSN-612) on 15 May 1965.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
30k	Starboard beam view of the Guardfish (SSN-612) underway, probably during her alpha seatrials off the Atlantic coast, 1965-66.	Photo courtesy of New York Shipbuilding., yorkship.home.comcast.net.
108k	Port side view of the Guardfish (SSN-612) underway, probably during her alpha seatrials off the Atlantic coast, 1965-66.	Official US Navy photo courtesy of Wendell Royce McLaughlin Jr.
83k	The Guardfish (SSN-612) lies under a blanket of snow awaitiing commissioning at the New York Shipbuilding Corp. Camden N.J., 20 December 1966.	USN photo.
23k	Commemorative post card marking the commissioning of the Guardfish (SSN-612), 20 December 1966.	Courtesy of Richard Leonhardt.
33k	Commemorative post mark of the Panama Canal Transit of Guardfish (SSN-612) on 08 Sep 1967.	USN photo courtesy of Jack Treutle.
23k	Guardfish (SSN-612) in dry dock late 1967.	Courtesy of Stan Nove / USS Guardfish web page.
109k	A brief operational history of the Guardfish (SSN-612) from 1965 - 1982.	USN photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
37k	Guardfish (SSN-612) and the Daniel Webster (SSBN-626), in the Panama Canal, March 14, 1970. We were heading back to Pearl after the shipyard in Miss. If I remember right this was the only time two nukes were in the canal at one time. It was some kind of a first.	Courtesy of Jeff Kelly / USS Guardfish web page. Partial text info courtesy of Skip Spahr, TM02 (SS.)
101k	Guardfish (SSN-612) is seen in dry dock 1 at Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 28 Sep 1983. She was in overhaul at the yard from 3 Oct 1983 until 20 Aug 1985. Note: The X's marked on her side are to check for a Radiation survey. Yard checked areas of the hull when it dry docked ships to make sure there was no radioactive contamination.	USN photo # 199009-9-83, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
79k	Guardfish (SSN-612) is seen in dry dock 1 at Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 28 Sep 1983.	USN photo # 199009-10-83, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
36k	The Guardfish (SSN-612) is shown arriving at Mare Island for overhaul in mid September 1983. She was in overhaul from 3 Oct 1983 to 20 Aug 1985. She received an upgraded BQQ-5 sonar and a MK 117 Fire Control system during the overhaul. The tug DeKaury (YTM-178) is assisting *Guardfish* to her berth.	Official US Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
48k	An Oil on masonite painting by the artist John Charles Roach, entitled "Ballast Point, San Diego", depicts sub base with subs and tenders at the pier in San Diego during mid 1986. The tenders were possibly the McKee (AS-42) for Subron 7: Dixon (AS-37) for Subron 3: Among the subs were the: Dolphin (AGSS-555): Gudgeon (SS-567): Albacore (AGSS-569): Barbel (SS-580): Blueback (SS-581): Permit (SSN-594): Plunger (SSN-595): Pollack (SSN-603) Haddo (SSN-604): Guardfish (SSN-612): Haddock (SSN-621): Sturgeon (SSN-637): Gurnard (SSN-662) : Hawkbill (SSN-666): Pintado (SSN-672): Drum (SSN-677): William H. Bates (SSN-680): La Jolla (SSN-701): Portsmouth (SSN-707) & Salt Lake City (SSN-716).	Ballast Point, San Diego John Charles Roach 1986.5 Oil on masonite, 1986, courtesy of the USNHC, # 88-163-CR. Text contributed by OMC J. Reid Pallady USNR-RET & QM2(SS) David Johnston, USNR.
384k	A lieutenant mans the periscope in the control room aboard the nuclear-powered attack submarine Guardfish (SSN-612), 1 Feb 1987.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph photo # DN-ST-90-07857, by PH1 Harry Gerwien, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
544k	A petty officer climbs up a ladder to the deck of the nuclear-powered attack submarine Guardfish (SSN-612), 1 Feb 1987.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph photo # DN-ST-90-07856, by PH1 Harry Gerwien, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
46k	Promotional photo of Guardfish (SSN-612) off of Point Loma, San Diego, CA.	Courtesy of Dan Demmons / USS Guardfish web page.
105k	Clipping from the 20 Feb 1992 edition of the "Salute", Puget Sound Naval Shipyard's newspaper showing crew members of the Guardfish (SSN-612) folding the flag for the last time during decommissioning ceremonies at the shipyard on 4 Feb 1992.	USN photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
64k	Port side view of the Guardfish (SSN-612) underway, date & location unknown.	USN photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
127k	Commemorative post mark of the decommissioning of Guardfish (SSN-612) on 04 February 1992 at Naval Submarine Base at Bremerton, WA.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
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.
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.