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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Radio Call Sign: November - Victor - Delta - Lima

Lapon (SSN-661)

Sturgeon Class Attack Submarine: Laid down, 27 July 1965, at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, VA.; Launched, 16 December 1966; Commissioned, USS Lapon (SSN-661), 14 December 1967; Decommissioned and simultaneously struck from the Naval Register, 8 August 1992; Final Disposition, disposed of through NPSSRP (Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA., 25 January 1997.

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
84k	Lapon (SSN-661) underway, probably during her sea trials, 1967, off the Virginia coast.	USN photo.
52k	Bow on view of the Lapon (SSN-661) underway, probably during her sea trials, 1967, off the Virginia coast.	Official US Navy photo courtesy of Wendell Royce McLaughlin Jr.
21k	Lapon (SSN-661) at D&S Piers, Naval Station Norfolk, VA., December 1968.	Courtesy of John Hummel.
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.
142k	Lapon (SSN-661) off the Virginia Capes 15 March 1971.	Official US Navy photograph courtesy of Robert M. Cieri.
88k	Lapon (SSN-661) at D&S Piers, Naval Station Norfolk, VA., September 1974.	Courtesy of Ronald Barker, Capt USAF (Ret).
28k	Commemorative postal cover with Lapon's (SSN-661) patch on the occasion of the boat's visit to the Bahamas on 11 December 1978.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
82k	Lapon (SSN-661), April 1987 at the North Pole.	US Navy photograph courtesy of sentner.com & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
68k	The sail of the Lapon (SSN-661) protrudes through the ice at the North Pole, 6 April 1988.	US Navy photo courtesy of US Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory & csp.navy.mil.
804k	A port bow view of the nuclear-powered attack submarine Lapon (SSN-661) underway off the Virginia Capes, 1 Feb 1991.	USN photo # DN-ST-91-05700, by Wise, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil.
82k	Twin Towing: September 1992 Guitarro (SSN-665) & Lapon (SSN-661) being towed from Mare Island, where they had been decommissioned and defueled, to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) in Bremerton, Washington. *Guitarro* next to a tug with *Lapon* in the background. At this point, the harbor tugs were transferring *Guitarro* and *Lapon* to ocean-going tugs. *Guitarro* and *Lapon* were decommissioned at the same time and towed to PSNS at the same time.	Photo courtesy of John MacKay. Photo added 05/17/09.
231k	*Lapon* with the Oakland Bay Bridge in the background.	Photo courtesy of John MacKay. Photo added 05/17/09.
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).
291k	"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.
30k	Triton (SSRN-586) photo taken in Oct 98 by a Independence (CVA-62) crew member. Note Long Beach (CG-9) and Lapon(SSN-661) is in the background.	Courtesy of Don Shelton.
19k	Triton (SSRN-586) photo taken in Oct 98 by a Independence (CVA-62) crew member. Lapon (SSN-661) is in the background.	Courtesy of Don Shelton.
27k	From left to right, Drum (SSN-677), Bluefish (SSN-675), Ray (SSN-653), Lapon (SSN-661) and Richard B. Russell (SSN-687) await scrapping at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA., 1998.	Courtesy of Don Sheldon.
33k	Commemorative postal cover marking the completion of scrapping of the Tautog (SSN-639) & Lapon (SSN-661) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA. 31 August 2002.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
174k	The sail of the Lapon (SSN-661) taken at the its dedication in July 2005. Her final resting place is the American Legion, Post 639 located in Springfield, MO.	Courtesy of Dale E Loney,(DSCC).
129k	Lapon's (SSN-661) Plaque showing her final location: The American Legion, Post 639 located in Springfield, MO.	Courtesy of Dale E Loney,(DSCC).