 Regulus I missile aboard USSGrowler at Pier 86 in New York, its museum ship home. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Growler |
| Namesake | Growler |
| Ordered | 31 July 1954 |
| Builder | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard |
| Laid down | 15 February 1955 |
| Launched | 5 April 1958 |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. Robert K. Byerts, widow of Commander Thomas B. Oakley, Jr. |
| Commissioned | 30 August 1958 |
| Decommissioned | 25 May 1964 |
| Stricken | 1 August 1980 |
| Homeport | Pearl Harbor, HI |
| Status | Museum ship at theIntrepid Museum |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics USS Growler SSG-577 | |
| Class & type | Grayback class submarine |
| Displacement | 2,110 tons light, 3,550 tons full, 1,440 tons dead |
| Length | 96.69 m (317 ft 3 in) overall, 96.3 m (316 ft) waterline |
| Beam | 8.2 m (27 ft) extreme, 7.9 m (26 ft) waterline |
| Draught | 5.7 m (19 ft) |
| Propulsion | 3Fairbanks-MorseDiesel engines, 2 Elliottelectric motors |
| Speed | 17 kn (20 mph; 31 km/h) surfaced, 12 kn (14 mph; 22 km/h) submerged |
| Test depth | 712 |
| Complement | 9 officers, 11 chief petty officers, 68 enlisted men |
| Armament |
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USSGrowler (SSG-577) was an early attempt by the U.S. Navy to field acruise missile submarine that would provide a nuclear deterrent using its second series of cruise missiles. Built to deliver theRegulus Icruise missile,Growler was the second and final submarine of theGrayback class, fourth boat of theUnited States Navy to be named after thegrowler. Since Regulus I and Regulus II programs had problems,Growler andGrayback were the only two submarines built in this class as instead, the U.S. Navy veered itsnuclear deterrence efforts intosubmarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs)—thePolaris missile program.
What makesGrowler and her sister unusual was her nuclear armament, deployed on a conventional diesel-electric submarine. Her mission was to provide nuclear deterrent capability off the Pacific coast of the Soviet Union during peak years of the Cold War, from 1958 to 1964. Additionally, special forces missions were deployed from her torpedo tubes and nuclear hangar.
Decommissioned in 1964, she was put into service as amuseum ship in 1988 as part of theIntrepid Museum inNew York City.
Growler waslaid down on 15 February 1955 by thePortsmouth Naval Shipyard ofKittery, Maine. She waslaunched on 5 April 1958sponsored by Mrs. Robert K. Byerts, widow of CommanderThomas B. Oakley, Jr.Growlercommissioned at Portsmouth on 30 August 1958 with Lieutenant CommanderCharles Priest, Jr., in command.
After training exercises off the East CoastGrowler sailed south for her shakedown cruise, arriving at theRoosevelt Roads Naval Station,Puerto Rico, on 19 February 1959. After a brief run back to Portsmouth, she returned to theCaribbean Sea in March to train in launchingRegulus I andRegulus II nuclear cruise missiles, assisted byUSSRunner, which was one of several submarines with Regulus guidance equipment.Growler returned to Portsmouth 19 April viaFort Lauderdale, Florida, andNew London, Connecticut.
Growler then proceeded to the Pacific viaNorfolk, Virginia,Key West, Florida, and thePanama Canal, putting in atPearl Harbor on 7 September to serve as flagship of Submarine Division 12. At Pearl Harbor the guided missile sub participated in a variety of battle and torpedo exercises as well as missile practice before beginning her first Regulus Deterrent Mission. On this mission, which lasted from 12 March to 17 May 1960,Growler departedHawaii with a full store ofRegulus sea-to-surface missiles, armed with nuclear warheads, and patrolled under a strict cloak of secrecy. Their patrols could last two months or more at a stretch and required them to remain submerged for hours and even days—which is much less than the patrols of present-day nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, but was a strain for the crew of a much smaller diesel boat. It is traditional that the log entries for 00:00 (midnight) on New Year's Day be made in verse. On 1 January 1961, duringGrowler's second patrol, Lieutenant (j.g.) Bruce Felt wrote: "Not our idea of fun and good cheers/But doing our job to ensure many New Years."
According to the documentary "Regulus: The First Nuclear Missile Submarines", the primary target forGrowler in the event of a nuclear exchange would be to eliminate theSoviet naval base atPetropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.[1] The patrols made byGrowler and her sisters represented the first ever deterrent patrols in the history of the submarine Navy, preceding those made by the Polaris missile submarines.[1]
From May 1960 through December 1963,Growler made nine such deterrent mission patrols, the fourth of which terminated atYokosuka, Japan, on 24 April 1962, as the Navy displayed one of its newest weapons.
Returning toMare Island, California,Growler decommissioned 25 May 1964 and was placed in reserve. She was initially moved to the Inactive Fleet section in thePuget Sound Naval Shipyard inBremerton, Washington, and was later relocated to thePhiladelphia Naval Shipyard. She was stricken from theNaval Vessel Register on 1 August 1980 and was scheduled to be used as a torpedo target. However, on 8 August 1988, Congress awarded thehulk toZachary Fisher, Chairman of theIntrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.
Due to the renovations to the entireIntrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum complex, includingUSS Intrepid and Pier 86,Growler was towed to Brooklyn for repairs. Holes found rusted in the hull complicated matters and pushed repair costs past $1.5 million.Growler returned to Pier 86 in late February 2009, and was re-opened to the public on 21 May 2009, during theIntrepid museum "Fleet Week 2009"celebration.
Growler is the only nuclear missile submarine available open to the public in the United States.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
40°45′54″N74°00′00″W / 40.765110°N 73.999990°W /40.765110; -73.999990