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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patches contributed by Mike Smolinski

Gurnard (SSN-662)
Active Service

Radio Call Sign: November - Alpha - Xray - Quebec

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Keel Laying - Launching
Sea Trials & Commissioning

Sturgeon Class Attack Submarine: Laid down, 22 December 1964, at Mare Island Naval Shipbuilding, Vallejo, CA.: Launched, 20 May 1967; Commissioned, USS Gurnard (SSN-662), 6 December 1968; Decommissioned and simultaneously struck from the Naval Register, 28 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 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
145k	Submerged submarines in tandem.	U.S. Navy Photo courtesy of Robert Hall.
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.
38k	Commemorative postal cover issued on the occasion of the Bientennial Polar expedition of the Gurnard (SSN-662), 14 April 1976.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
41k	Gurnard (SSN-662) surfaced above the Arctic Circle, possibly 14 April 1976.	US Navy photo courtesy of the US Navy Arctic Submarine Labratory web site.
70k	Commemorative patch issued on the occasion of the BiCentennial Polar Expedition of the Gurnard (SSN-662), 1976.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
70k	Commemorative postal cover issued on the occasion of the Polar visit of the Gurnard (SSN-662), 12 November 1984.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
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.
99k	Secretary of the Navy H. Lawrence Garrett III autographs pictures for the new crew of the nuclear-powered submarine Gurnard (SSN-662) during a deployment beneath the Arctic ice off of Alaska.	Official US Navy photo # DN-ST-90-07311, by Harry Gerwien, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
359k	Senator Albert Gore of Tennessee climbs the sail structure of the nuclear-powered submarine Gurnard (SSN-662) during operations in the Arctic ice off of Alaska, 24 Mar 1990.	Official US Navy photo DN-ST-90-07304, by Harry Gerwien, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. and submitted by Bill Gonyo.
346k	Crew members stand on the bow of the nuclear-powered attack submarine Gurnard (SSN-662), background, as others gather nearby to watch the nuclear-powered attack submarine Seahorse (SSN-669) surface through the ice during exercise Ice Ex '90, 25 Mar 1990.	USN photo # DN-ST-90-08033, by PH1 Harry Gerwien, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil.
480k	Crew members emerge from the nuclear-powered attack submarine Seahorse (SSN-669) shortly after the vessel surfaced through the ice at the North Pole during exercise Ice Ex '90. The sail of the nuclear-powered attack submarine Gurnard (SSN-662), which also just surfaced, can be seen on the horizon.	USN photo # DN-ST-90-08032, by PH1 Harry Gerwien, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil.
563k	The camp, used as a support base for under-ice operations of the nuclear-powered submarines Gurnard (SSN-662) and Seahorse (SSN-669), is dwarfed by the snow and icebound seascrape.	USN photo # DN-ST-90-07317, by PH1 Harry Gerwien, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil.
124k	The submarine tender Dixon (AS-37) departs San Diego 17 Sep 1990 with the nuclear-powered attack submarines *Guitarro* , left, and Gurnard (SSN-662). The ships will be taking part in Exercise FallEx '90.	Official US Navy photo # DN-SC-91-04869, by PH 2 Patrick W. Muscatt, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
116k	A starboard beam view of the nuclear-powered attack submarine Gurnard (SSN-662) underway as it departs San Diego on 1 Feb 1991.	Official US Navy photo # DN-ST-91-05701, by PH1 Robert J. Saul, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
84k	A chief petty officer supervises a fellow crewman in the torpedo room of the nuclear-powered Gurnard (SSN-662) as they make adjustments to the torpedo transport rails at San Diego Harbor on 1 Jan 1997.	Official US Navy photo # DN-ST-97-00580, by PHC Bob Sasek, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
115k	On board the nuclear-powered attack submarine Gurnard (SSN-662); submariners are rumored to eat the best in the world during deployments when they are submerged for long periods of time. Here a food services person readies rolled rump roast, which indicates they eat pretty well when tied up in port also.	Official US Navy photo # DN-ST-97-00581, by PHC Bob Sasek, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
89k	Welcome Aboard cover of the Gurnard (SSN-662).	Photo courtesy of David Buell. Photo added 07/07/07.
188k	Inactivation Ceremony invitation for the Gurnard (SSN-662) on 12 August 1994.	Photo courtesy of David Buell. The contributor's father was CWO 4 Benton E. Buell, USN, was aboard the first Gurnard (SS-254), during World War II. As such, he maintained contact with the new *Gurnard* and crew over the years, and made his last submarine dive as a guest of the Chief of the Boat in 1990. He passed away in 1992, but his sister Benetta and he attended the Inactivation Ceremony as guests of the crew in his behalf. They were acknowledged during the ceremony as the family of B.E.Buell, who was the only enlisted plankowner on the first *Gurnard* to both commission and de- commission her. Photo added 07/07/07.
31k	Inactivation Ceremony invitation for the Gurnard (SSN-662) on 12 August 1994.	Photo courtesy of David Buell. Photo added 07/07/07.
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.