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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Radio Call Sign: November - Delta - Echo - Uniform

Pargo (SSN-650)

Sturgeon Class Attack Submarine: Laid down, 3 June 1964, at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corp., Groton, CT.: Launched, 17 September 1966; Commissioned, USS Pargo (SSN-650), 5 January 1968; Decommissioned and simultaneously struck from the Naval Register, 14 April 1995; Final Disposition, disposed of through the NPSSRP (Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA., 15 October 1996.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 3,640 t., Submerged: 4,640 t.; Length 292' 3"; Beam 31' 8"; Draft 28' 8"; Speed, Surfaced 15 kts, Submerged 25 kts; Depth limit 1,300'; Complement 108; Armament, four 21" torpedo tubes amidships aft of bow, MK 48 Torpedoes, UUM-44A SUBROC, UGM-84A/C Harpoon, MK 57 deep water mines, MK 60 CAPTOR mines; Combat Sensors, Radar, BPS-14/15 surface search, Sonars, BQQ-5 multi-function bow mounted, BQR-7 passive in submarines with BQQ-2, BQS-12 active 7, TB-16 or TB-23 towed array, EW Systems, WLQ-4(V), WLR-4(V), WLR-9 ; Propulsion System, one S5W nuclear reactor, two steam turbines, one propeller, 15,000 shp.

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
281k	A *Pargo, named for Horlopargus Guntheri, an aggressive and voracious member of the Snapper Family. This plaque was presented to the Pargo's* (SS-264) sponsor, Miss Belle W. Baruch, eldest daughter of the Financier Bernard Mannes Baruch, on the occasion of the boat's launching on 24 January 1943.	Electric Boat photo courtesy of George K.Chastain, Executive Director of The Belle W. Baruch Foundation. Partial text courtesy of usspargo.net. & time.com.
121k	Pargo (SSN-650) probably during her shakedown cruise, circa 1967.	USN photo.
126k	Port quarter view of Pargo (SSN-650), probably during her shakedown cruise, circa 1967.	Official US Navy photo courtesy of Wendell Royce McLaughlin Jr.
45k	Pargo (SSN-650) surfaced above the Arctic Circle, 1969.	US Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory
43k	Oil on canvas painting by the artist Jim Christley entitled "Trailing". During the Cold War the US Naval Submarine Force was tasked with keeping tabs on Soviet Naval movements in particular, the Soviet Submarine Force. Submarines of the *Sturgeon Class* were well suited to this task and often trailed Soviet submarines for days reporting on their movements and recording noise signatures. In this image, such a trailing has turned into a close aboard encounter as a Soviet *Viktor III Class* has turned to port to check his baffles (to listen to see if anyone is immediately astern). A trailing *Sturgeon* has stopped his screw and gone quiet. Extending far behind the US submarine is its towed array sonar which assists in giving a clear picture of the ocean’s acoustics	Photo & text courtesy of subart.net.
145k	Submerged submarines in tandem.	U.S. Navy Photo courtesy of Robert Hall. Photo added 04/22/07.
50k	Commemorative post marking the 650th dive of the Pargo (SSN-650), March 29, 1978.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
302k	Pargo (SSN-650) in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Andros Island at sunrise, circa 1969-73.	Photo courtesy of Reed Clarke MM-2 (ELT). Text courtesy of David A. Van Oosteryk MM1(SS).
86k	Pargo (SSN-650) surfaced above the Arctic Circle, circa 1969-73.	Courtesy of Reed Clarke MM-2 (ELT).
120k	Pargo (SSN-650) after an emergency blow from test depth, circa 1969-73.	Photo courtesy of Reed Clarke MM-2 (ELT). Text courtesy of David A. Van Oosteryk MM1(SS).
22k	Pargo (SSN-650) coming into Portsmouth, England in late 70's.	Courtesy of John Hummel.
441k	CDR David W. Hearding, commanding officer of the nuclear-powered attack submarine Pargo (SSN-650), looks through the submarine's periscope while underway north of the Arctic Circle, Apr 1991.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # DN-SC-92-04520, by JO2 Oscar Sosa, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil.
492k	Crew members monitor equipment in the control room aboard the nuclear-powered attack submarine Pargo (SSN-650), 6 Apr 1991.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # DN-SC-92-04538, by JO2 Oscar Sosa, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil.
96k	A mess management specialist aboard the nuclear-powered attack submarine Pargo (SSN-650) prepares to remove a pan of meat from the oven. The *Pargo* is underway north of the Arctic Circle.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # DN-SC-92-04525, by JO2 Oscar Sosa, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
171k	The crew of the nuclear-powered attack submarine Pargo (SSN-650) eats dinner. The *Pargo* is underway north of the Arctic Circle, 6 Apr 1991.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # DN-SC-92-04528, by JO2 Oscar Sosa, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
234k	A chief petty officer gives some instructions to CAPT Dorothy A. Prose, executive assistant to the undersecretary of the Navy, as she tries her hand at steering the nuclear-powered attack submarine Pargo (SSN-650), 6 Apr 1991.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # DN-SC-92-04540, by JO2 Oscar Sosa, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
327k	Crew members gather near the sail of the nuclear-powered attack submarine Pargo (SSN-650) shortly after the vessel surfaced through the ice, 6 Apr 1991.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # DN-ST-92-00860, by JO2 Oscar Sosa, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil.
158k	Crewmen and a group of official visitors stand on the ice atop the hull of the nuclear-powered attack submarine Pargo (SSN-650) north of the Arctic Circle on 6 Apr 1991.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # DN-SC-92-04581, by JO2 Oscar Sosa, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
57k	Pargo (SSN-650) and a Canadian Huey at Ice Camp Fogg, May 1991.	USN photo.
53k	Postal cover of the Pargo's (SSN-650) visit to the North Pole, Sept. 12, 1993.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
20k	Commemorative post marking the Pargo's (SSN-650) return to homeport following her visit to the North Pole, November 19, 1993.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
34k	Pargo (SSN-650) surfaced above the Arctic Circle, possibly 1993.	US Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory
22k	Pargo (SSN-650) in 1/192 scale cast solid resin.	Model and photo by Ken Hart.
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.