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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patches contributed by Mike Smolinski

Radio Call Sign: November - November - Tango - Sierra

L. Mendell Rivers (SSN-686)

Sturgeon Class Attack Submarine: Laid down, 26 June 1971, at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, VA.; Launched, 2 June 1973; Commissioned, USS L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686), 21 December 1974; Decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register, 10 May 2001; Final Disposition, disposed of through the NPSSRP (Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA. 19 July 2002.

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
251k	The crew of the L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) salute the colors prior to her launching at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, VA., 2 June 1973.	Official US Navy photo courtesy of Wendell Royce McLaughlin Jr.
251k	Pre-commissioning photo of the L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) underway, off the coast of Virginia, Nov. 1974.	USN photo from NAVSEA Journal courtesy of Bob Bush and submitted by Fred Willshaw.
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.
465k	A port bow view of the nuclear-powered attack submarine L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) moored at a pier at Port Canaveral, Florida, 1 Aug 1993.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # DN-SC-93-05792 by OS2 John Bouvia, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
506k	A port quarter view of the nuclear-powered attack submarine L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) moored at a pier at Port Canaveral, Florida, 1 Aug 1993.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # DN-SC-93-05793 by OS2 John Bouvia, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
271k	The yard tugboat Nanticoke (YTB-803) assist the nuclear-powered attack submarine L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) in docking at the Naval Station Rosey Roads during the fleet exercises on 20 Oct 1995.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # DN-SC-97-00446 by PH3 Sheri Dinger Starr, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
52k	L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) with Dry Deck Shelter, entering Gibraltar, 31st March 1998.	Contributed by Daniel Ferro.
72k	L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) without Dry Deck Shelter in Gibraltar 2nd April 1998. (You can just see the Dry Deck Shelter on land behind the Sub).	Contributed by Daniel Ferro.
174k	L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) with the French Figates Acont (F-713) & sister in Backgr in Toulon, France, July 13th 1999.	Photo courtesy of Guy Schaeffer, from the collection of Paolo Marsan.
174k	The sail of the L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) is pictured against the backdrop of the sun silhouetting the barren wasteness of the Artic ice, 15 October 2000.	US Navy photo courtesy of US Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory & csp.navy.mil.
13k	Commemorative post mark of the L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) at the North Pole, 15 October 2000.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
21k	Commemorative post mark of the L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) arrival at Puget Sound Naval Base, 29 Novemeber 2000.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
53k	L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) underway, date and place unknown.	US Navy photo courtesy of the ComSubGru Nine web site.
36k	Commemorative post mark of the L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) honoring her 26 years of service and keeping the peace, March 1, 2001, after finishing the NPSSRP (Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program).	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
465k	Plaque of the L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) on display at the Naval and Maritime Museum at Patriots Point, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.	Courtesy of Robert Hall. Photo added 04/22/07.

There is no DANFS History currently available for L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) at the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site, the main archive for the DANFS Online Project.

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
FAS--SSN-637 Sturgeon class

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