USS Halibut

USS Halibut (SS-232) was a Gato-class submarine built at Portsmouth Navy Yard and commissioned 1942.

General Characteristics

• Displacement: 1526 tons surfaced, 2424 tons submerged
• Length: 311'
• Beam: 27'3"
• Draft: 16'10"
• Speed: 20 knots surfaced, 9 knots submerged
• Armament: 1 3"/50 or 1 4"/50 or 1 5"/50, 6 bow and 4 stern torpedo tubes, 24 21" torpedoes (loaded tubes plus reloads: 10 forward, 4 aft)
• Complement: 80

USS Halibut (SSGN 587) was the first American submarine to be designed to launch guided missiles. Intended to carry the Regulus missile, her main deck was high above the waterline to provide a dry "flight deck." Her missile system is a completely automated system of hydraulically powered machinery, controlled from a central control station.

Halibut was launched by Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California on January 6, 1959, sponsored by Mrs. Chet Holifield, wife of Congressman Holifield of California. She was commissioned January 4, 1960 with LCDR Walter Dedrick as Commanding Officer. She departed for her shakedown cruise March 11, 1960. On March 25, she became the first American nuclear submarine to successfully launch a guided missile.

After numerous successful test and training missile launches during the next five years, Halibut entered Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard[?] for a major overhaul, and on August 15, 1965 was redesignated an attack submarine (SSN). She operated in that role until August 1968 when she transferred to Mare Island for overhaul and installation of side thrusters and other specialized oceanographic equipment. She returned to Pearl Harbor in 1970 and operated with the Pacific fleet and Submarine Development Group 1 out of Mare Island until decommissioning in 1976. She was stricken and disposed of by submarine recycling on April 30, 1986.

General Characteristics

• Displacement: 3655 tons surfaced, 5000 tons submerged
• Length: 350 feet
• Breadth: 29 feet
• Draft: 28 feet
• Armament: 1 Regulus I missile, 6 21-inch torpedo tubes
• Power Plant: S3W reactor[?]