USS Guardfish (SSN-612)
The USS Guard Fish (SSN-612) was a nuclear-powered submarine of the United States Navy . She belonged to the thresher / permit class .
history
The Guardfish was commissioned in 1960 and laid down at New York Shipbuilding in February 1961 . The launching was delayed by the sinking of the USS Thresher (SSN-593) until 1965, the boat was not officially put into service until the end of 1966.
The first test drives took place in the Caribbean and the waters of Central America in 1966 and 1967, after which the Guardfish was stationed in Pearl Harbor , Hawaii . After the first transfer to the Western Pacific, the Guardfish was sent back to the Atlantic, where she received the SUBSAFE package from Ingalls Shipbuilding . This lasted until 1970, after which the boat was relocated back to the Pacific. After 612 dives, a refill of nuclear fuel took place in 1974 , this time on the west coast at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard .
The boat was then moved to Vallejo , California . In 1975 the boat was radioactively contaminated when the wind blew depleted debris from the primary circuit back on board, which was supposed to be dumped. Shortly thereafter, Mare Island underwent an overhaul that lasted until 1977.
Several relocations followed in the Western Pacific until the Guardfish was decommissioned in 1992. In the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard , it was then canceled in the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program .