USS Blueback (SS-581)
USS Blueback (SS-581) is a Barbel-class submarine that served in the United States Navy from 1959 to 1990, and subsequently was made into an exhibit at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. She was the second Navy submarine to bear the name.
USS Blueback (SS-581) in the 1960s | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Namesake | Blueback |
| Awarded | 29 June 1956 |
| Builder | Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi |
| Laid down | 15 April 1957 |
| Launched | 16 May 1959 |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. Kenmore McManes, wife of Rear Admiral McManes |
| Commissioned | 15 October 1959 |
| Decommissioned | 1 October 1990 |
| Stricken | 30 October 1990 |
| Status | Donated to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry |
| Badge | |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Barbel-class diesel-electric submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 219 ft 6 in (66.90 m) overall |
| Beam | 29 ft (8.8 m) |
| Draft | 25 ft (7.6 m) max |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed |
|
| Endurance |
|
| Test depth |
|
| Complement | 8 officers, 69 men |
| Armament | 6 × 21 in (533 mm) bow torpedo tubes, 18 torpedoes |
USS Blueback | |
| Location | Oregon Museum of Science and Industry |
| Coordinates | 45°30′28″N 122°40′01″W |
| NRHP reference No. | 08000947 |
| Added to NRHP | 18 September 2008 |
Blueback was laid down by Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation of Pascagoula, Mississippi on 15 April 1957. She was launched on 16 May 1959 sponsored by Virginia McManes, wife of Rear Admiral Kenmore McManes, and commissioned on 15 October 1959, Lieutenant Commander Robert H. Gautier in command. She was the last non-nuclear submarine to join the United States Navy and was the final conventionally powered combat capable submarine to be decommissioned, which left the United States Navy with a fully nuclear submarine fleet, with the exception of the research submarine USS Dolphin which served until 2007.