USS Grayback (SSG-574)

USS "Grayback" (SS/SSG/APSS/LPSS-574), the lead ship of her class of submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the grayback, a small herring of great commercial importance in the Great Lakes. Her keel was laid down on 1 July 1954 by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard of Vallejo, California. She was launched on 2 July 1957 sponsored by Mrs. John A. Moore, widow of the last skipper of the first "Grayback", and commissioned at Mare Island on 7 March 1958 with Lieutenant Commander Hugh G. Nott in command. "Grayback" was initially designated as an attack submarine, but was converted to a Regulus guided missile submarine (SSG-574) in 1958.

The first of the Navy's guided missile submarines to carry the Regulus II sea-to surface missiles, "Grayback" conducted tests and shakedown along the West Coast. While operating out of Port Hueneme, California, in September 1958 she carried out the first successful launching of a Regulus II missile from a submarine, which pointed the way to a revolutionary advance in the power of navies to attack land bases. Departing San Diego, California, on 30 October, "Grayback" arrived at Pearl Harbor on 8 November for a month of exercises and maneuvers before returning to Mare Island for her "10,000 mile checkup."

On 9 February 1959, "Grayback" departed Mare Island to make Pearl Harbor her permanent home base, reaching Hawaii 7 March via Port Hueneme, California, Long Beach, California, and Mazatlan, Mexico. After a series of exercises there, she cruised to Dutch Harbor, Unmak Island, Sequam Island, and Kodiak, Alaska, for further missile exercises from 3 July to 31 July. This was followed by the first of her nine deterrent missile strike missions, from 21 September to 12 November. Grayback's first patrol terminated at Yokosuka, Japan, as did two others. She returned to Pearl Harbor 8 December.

On 22 February 1960, "Grayback" modified her missile launching system and simplified her complex electrical circuits. After this, she again took up deterrent missile strike missions. Over the next 2½ years she completed seven missions for a total of nearly 18 months at sea, much of this time submerged. In addition to Yokosuka, both Adak, Alaska, and Pearl Harbor also served as termination points for these patrols. On her nine patrols she spent more than 20 months at sea and logged well over 130,000 miles (209,000 km) on deterrent missile strike missions.

That schedule took its toll. On 27 August 1963, while snorkeling to recharge batteries, "Grayback" was buffeted by particularly strong seas. The buffeting caused the After Main Battery breaker to short, starting a fire in the berthing compartment. One seaman failed to evacuate the compartment and was overcome by smoke and fumes. Main propulsion was lost for a short time, but was restored, and "Grayback" was able return to Pearl Harbor under her own power. Repairs took two weeks.

As more and more Polaris missile submarines became operational, they assumed the deterrent functions previously assigned to "Grayback" and her sister ships. The Regulus missile program ended in 1964 and "Grayback" was withdrawn from active service. She decommissioned at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, on 25 May 1964.

A second conversion began at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in November 1967. The conversion was originally estimated at US$15.2 million but grew to over US$30 million. She was re-classified from a guided missile submarine to an amphibious transport submarine with hull classification symbol LPSS on 30 August 1968. (The Naval Vessel Registry entry for "Grayback" shows that at one point she was classified as a "plain" transport submarine, an APSS. Crew memoirs indicated that they were never aware of it. Presumably, while this classification was "official," it may have lasted only days.) The conversion heightened her sail by ten feet, added two auxiliary tanks to the forward end of the engine room (increasing the length of the boat by 12 feet), and, most significantly, converted the missile chambers to carry 67 embarked troops and SEAL Swimmer Delivery Vehicles (SDVs), including a decompression chamber in the starboard hangar.

"Grayback" was decommissioned for the second time on 15 January 1984 at Subic Bay Naval Station in the Republic of the Philippines. After decommissioning, "Grayback" was sunk as a target on 13 April 1986 in the South China Sea.

References

External links

* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08574.htm navsource.org: USS "Grayback"]
* [http://geocities.com/ussgrayback2003/index.html USS "Grayback" webpage at Geocities.com]