USS Blueback (SS-581) (Portland, Oregon)

USA / Oregon / Portland / Portland, Oregon
 museum, military, submarine, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, United States Navy
Laid down in April 1957 at the Ingalls Shipbuilding Pascagoula Shipyard as the second member of Barbel Class of Submarines for the US Navy, USS Blueback commissioned into service with the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet in October 1959 and began her sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico. Officially accepted into service with the US Navy in July 1960 upon her arrival at Naval Station San Diego, the Blueback became the final conventionally-powered Submarine to enter the active US Navy Fleet.

Assigned to Squadron 3, Submarine Force, US Pacific Fleet, the Blueback began regular operations throughout the Pacific basin but quickly became something of an anachronism among the rapidly expanding US nuclear-powered Submarine fleet. Seeing her frontline missions assumed by her atomic-powered cousins, the Blueback and her crew found the majority of their deployments tailored to training units of both the US and Allied navies in the tactics of detecting, tracking and neutralizing diesel-powered Submarines, with Blueback often playing the role of the "enemy".

So engaged for the balance of her career, the Blueback was kept in commission longer than either of her two sisters but found herself on the decommissioning list as her onboard systems became increasingly dollar and manpower intensive and the Cold War began to wind down. Formally decommissioned on the 1st of October 1990, USS Blueback was the final conventionally-powered Submarine to exit US Navy service and after spending four years in reserve she was donated to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry where she currently serves as a museum and a memorial ship. Today, the Blueback is the only modern United States Submarine open for public display.

www.omsi.edu/submarine/
www.navsource.org/archives/08/08581.htm
www.hnsa.org/ships/blueback.htm
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Blueback_(SS-581)
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   45°30'28"N   122°40'0"W

Comments

  • Correct me if I am wrong, but as I understand it, this boat was used in the Film "The Hunt for Red October".
This article was last modified 12 years ago