USS Blueback (SS 581)

- decommissioned -

USS BLUEBACK was the second BARBEL - class submarine and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name. Decommissioned on October 1, 1990, the BLUEBACK subsequently joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Bremerton, Wash. Stricken from the Navy list on October 30, 1990, the submarine was donated to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland, Oregon, in February 1994, and is now serving as a museum ship.

General Characteristics:	Keel laid: April 15, 1957
	Launched: May 16, 1959
	Commissioned: October 15, 1959
	Decommissioned: October 1, 1990
	Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss.
	Propulsion system: three Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines, two General Electric motors
	Propellers: one
	Length: 219.5 feet (66.9 meters)
	Beam: 28.9 feet (8.8 meters)
	Draft: 27.9 feet (8.5 meters)
	Displacement: Surfaced: approx. 2,570 tons Submerged: approx. 2,895 tons
	Speed: Surfaced: approx. 15 knots Submerged: approx. 25 knots
	Armament: six 533 mm torpedo tubes
	Crew: 8 Officers, 70 Enlisted

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS BLUEBACK. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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Click here to see which USS BLUEBACK memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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Accidents aboard USS BLUEBACK:

Date	Where	Events
May 25, 1989	off southern California	A fire aboard USS BLUEBACK forces the submarine to surface during training exercises. No injuries are reported and damage is slight.

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USS BLUEBACK History:

USS BLUEBACK, the second U.S. Navy submarine to bear the name, was one of three BARBEL-class diesel-electric attack submarines constructed during the final phase of American conventional submarine development. BLUEBACK became the last non-nuclear-powered submarine commissioned into the U.S. Navy and, more than three decades later, the last conventionally powered American combat submarine to leave active service.

The contract for BLUEBACK was awarded on June 29, 1956, and her keel was laid at the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation yard at Pascagoula, Mississippi, on April 15, 1957. She was launched on May 16, 1959, sponsored by Mrs. Kenmore M. McManes, wife of Rear Admiral Kenmore M. McManes. BLUEBACK was commissioned on October 15, 1959, with Lieutenant Commander Robert H. Gautier in command.

Following commissioning and fitting out at Pascagoula, BLUEBACK began acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico in January 1960. The first months of the year were devoted to correcting deficiencies, completing trials, and training a crew that was operating a submarine substantially different from the conventional fleet boats that had preceded her. BLUEBACK departed Pascagoula on June 11, 1960, for transfer to the Pacific Fleet. She transited the Panama Canal on July 7 and continued to San Diego, California, which became her first operational home port. There, she joined Submarine Squadron 3. Her early Pacific work included torpedo-tube acceptance trials at Keyport, Washington, followed by a post-shakedown availability at Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Vallejo, California. On November 23, 1960, BLUEBACK was formally accepted for service, completing the extended trials and correction program associated with bringing the new submarine into full operational status.

Type training in the San Diego operating areas occupied BLUEBACK into early 1961. On February 11, 1961, she began a two-week availability at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. After completing the work and the preparations that followed, BLUEBACK departed on March 28 for her first deployment to the western Pacific. She operated with the Seventh Fleet and participated in fleet exercises and other training during a period in which the United States maintained a substantial naval presence in East Asia as part of its Cold War commitments. At the conclusion of the deployment, BLUEBACK departed Yokosuka, Japan, on September 3 and began an unusual return passage to the United States. She made the entire voyage to San Diego without surfacing, operating submerged and using her snorkel when required to run the diesel engines and recharge her batteries. She arrived at San Diego on September 25 after covering approximately 5,340 miles without surfacing. The transit established a notable endurance record for a conventionally powered submarine and demonstrated the ability of the BARBEL design to remain submerged for extended periods while using snorkel operation for battery charging.

Following post-deployment leave and upkeep, BLUEBACK resumed type training from San Diego on October 14, 1961. On November 18, she took part in an antisubmarine warfare demonstration observed by Chief of Naval Operations Admiral George W. Anderson. The participating ships included guided-missile cruiser USS TOPEKA (CLG 8), guided-missile destroyer USS HENRY B. WILSON (DDG 7), guided-missile frigate USS PREBLE (DLG-15), and BLUEBACK. During the following months, the submarine continued fleet training and made visits to San Francisco and Seattle. In July 1962, she entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard for her first major overhaul.

The overhaul continued through the end of 1962 and was completed in January 1963. BLUEBACK subsequently made port calls at Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, before leaving the West Coast for a permanent change of home port to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. There, she was assigned to Submarine Division 13. Local operations in Hawaiian waters occupied February, March, and the opening days of April. On April 11, 1963, BLUEBACK departed Pearl Harbor for another western Pacific deployment. The first part of the cruise took her south to Australia in connection with the annual commemoration of the Battle of the Coral Sea, the May 1942 carrier battle that had become an important symbol of the wartime alliance between the United States and Australia. BLUEBACK visited Brisbane, Melbourne, and Perth before continuing northward to Subic Bay in the Philippines for operations with the Seventh Fleet. During the remainder of the deployment, she also visited Naha, Okinawa, and Sasebo, Kobe, and Yokosuka in Japan. BLUEBACK returned to Pearl Harbor on October 26, 1963.

BLUEBACK resumed local operations in Hawaiian waters and continued this routine into 1964. During that year, an important alteration was made to her configuration when the diving planes were relocated from the bow to the sail. The modification changed one of the submarine's most immediately recognizable external features and reflected the continuing refinement of the BARBEL-class design during operational service. In March 1964, while BLUEBACK's propeller was being changed, a crane toppled onto the submarine and caused sufficient damage to require drydocking and repairs. After returning to service, BLUEBACK continued Hawaiian operations. During the fall and early winter, she made two voyages to the vicinity of Wake Island for evaluation work involving the Navy's Subroc submarine-launched antisubmarine missile and PERMIT-class nuclear-powered attack submarines. BLUEBACK served as the target submarine during both evaluation periods. This type of employment became increasingly important during her career because a conventionally powered submarine provided characteristics different from those of the nuclear submarines that were becoming predominant within the U.S. fleet.

On February 17, 1965, BLUEBACK departed Pearl Harbor for another Far Eastern deployment. She visited Naha, Hong Kong, Subic Bay, and Yokosuka and participated in activities connected with the increasing American naval presence in Southeast Asia during the expansion of the Vietnam War. BLUEBACK returned to Pearl Harbor in June and resumed local operations. During August, destroyer USS CARPENTER (DD 825) conducted antisubmarine warfare training in which an exercise torpedo delivered by an Asroc weapon was fired against BLUEBACK, which served as the submarine target. BLUEBACK continued Hawaiian operations until September 7, when she departed for Bremerton, Washington. On September 25 she entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for an extensive overhaul.

The overhaul kept BLUEBACK in the shipyard for approximately one year and was completed on September 26, 1966. She then conducted sound trials and weapons testing in Puget Sound. BLUEBACK also supported a research and development project near Nanoose, British Columbia, an area used extensively for underwater acoustic and torpedo testing. Following this work, she made a four-day visit to Vancouver before returning to Hawaii. BLUEBACK arrived at Pearl Harbor early in November and began an intensive period of refresher training designed to restore full operational proficiency after the lengthy shipyard period.

After approximately three months of preparation, BLUEBACK departed Pearl Harbor on February 17, 1967, for another western Pacific deployment. The approximately seven-month assignment combined lengthy periods at sea with training and operations related to the continuing American naval effort in Southeast Asia. Port calls included Hong Kong and the Japanese ports of Yokosuka and Sasebo. BLUEBACK returned to Pearl Harbor on September 20. A month of leave and upkeep followed before she resumed operations in Hawaiian waters. On December 19, 1967, she entered Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a restricted availability.

The availability continued into January 1968. After returning to sea, BLUEBACK supported the Pacific Fleet Submarine Force program used to prepare prospective submarine commanding officers for future commands. She also served as a target for surface ships and aircraft conducting antisubmarine warfare training and carried out additional type training and weapons exercises. On July 8, 1968, BLUEBACK departed on another five-month Far Eastern deployment. The cruise included two special operations whose details were not publicly released, together with substantial upkeep time at Yokosuka. She returned to Pearl Harbor on December 3, 1968.

Early in 1969, BLUEBACK left Hawaii for Bremerton and entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on January 17 for another major overhaul. The work occupied most of the year. During the sea trials and training that followed completion of the overhaul, BLUEBACK visited Nanaimo, British Columbia, and Port Angeles, Washington. She returned to Hawaii early in December 1969.

The first three months of 1970 were devoted to intensive training in preparation for another overseas deployment. On April 10, 1970, BLUEBACK departed Pearl Harbor for the western Pacific. She conducted lengthy special operations, made brief visits to Yokosuka, Hong Kong, and Guam, and operated in the Vietnam war zone. Details of the special operations were not publicly disclosed. The deployment occurred while the United States continued extensive naval operations in Southeast Asia even as American ground-force involvement was beginning to decline. BLUEBACK completed the cruise when she returned to Pearl Harbor on October 1, 1970. Local operations and upkeep followed.

On February 12, 1971, BLUEBACK entered Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a restricted availability. The work concluded in late March and was followed by sea trials. Early in April, she participated in Submarine Antisubmarine Warfare Exercise 1-71 in the Pearl Harbor operating area. She subsequently conducted torpedo-firing exercises before entering another upkeep period.

BLUEBACK departed Pearl Harbor on June 25, 1971, for another Far Eastern assignment. She arrived at Yokosuka on July 12 and spent approximately one week undergoing upkeep before putting to sea for a month of operational training. A ten-day visit to Sasebo followed, after which she proceeded to Hong Kong for liberty. BLUEBACK then moved south into the Vietnam operational area, where she provided submarine training services to Seventh Fleet destroyer units. This allowed surface combatants to practice detecting, tracking, and attacking a conventionally powered submarine under operational conditions. After this period, BLUEBACK returned to Yokosuka for upkeep. She put to sea again on October 11 for further training and subsequently made another stop at Yokosuka. BLUEBACK departed Japan for Hawaii on November 29 and arrived at Pearl Harbor on December 14, 1971.

Local Hawaiian operations occupied approximately the first ten weeks of 1972. On March 29, 1972, BLUEBACK entered Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a lengthy overhaul. The work continued for almost a full year and was completed early in March 1973. BLUEBACK then resumed local operations and training while preparing for her next overseas assignment.

On August 8, 1973, BLUEBACK departed Hawaii for the western Pacific. During the deployment she trained with American naval forces and with the navies of South Korea and Taiwan. Her documented ports included Yokosuka and Sasebo in Japan; Chinhae and Pusan in South Korea; Buckner Bay, Okinawa; Hong Kong; and Subic Bay in the Philippines. These multinational operations occurred during the period following the January 1973 Paris Peace Accords, when direct American combat operations in Vietnam were ending but the United States continued to maintain substantial naval forces in East Asian waters. BLUEBACK departed Subic Bay on January 5, 1974, and subsequently made a two-day visit to Keelung, Taiwan, before turning east toward Hawaii. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on January 31 and entered a period of leave and upkeep.

During the remainder of 1974, BLUEBACK remained heavily involved in training. She provided submarine services to surface ships and aircraft engaged in antisubmarine warfare exercises, carried out torpedo-firing drills, and again supported the training of prospective submarine commanding officers. Such assignments were becoming an increasingly important part of her routine employment because a diesel-electric submarine presented different operating and acoustic characteristics from those of U.S. nuclear-powered submarines.

BLUEBACK continued local operations during January and February 1975. In March, she participated in Rimpac 75, a major multinational Pacific exercise involving naval forces from the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Following the exercise, BLUEBACK began a restricted availability. She resumed local operations early in June, conducting torpedo tests, type training, and submarine services for surface ships and aircraft. She ended 1975 in upkeep at Pearl Harbor.

Sea trials and weapons exercises occupied January 1976. In February, BLUEBACK entered Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for another major overhaul. The extensive work continued for the remainder of the year and was completed on December 1. BLUEBACK began refresher training on December 13, restoring crew and submarine proficiency after approximately ten months in the shipyard.

In February 1977, BLUEBACK participated in Rimpac 77 and subsequently conducted torpedo trials. After a brief upkeep period, she departed Pearl Harbor on March 28 for a permanent change of home port. She arrived at San Diego on April 8, ending approximately fourteen years of home-port assignment at Pearl Harbor. Following an inspection and a period providing services to aircraft, BLUEBACK departed San Diego on May 27 for a brief visit to San Francisco and returned on June 1.

On June 21, 1977, BLUEBACK departed San Diego for an extended deployment associated with Unitas XVIII. She ultimately reached Santa Marta, Colombia, where she joined Task Force 138 on August 7. The principal American force included guided-missile destroyer USS MAHAN (DDG 42), frigate USS CAPODANNO (FF 1093), and frigate USS VREELAND (FF 1068). The annual Unitas deployment brought U.S. naval ships together with South American navies for combined maritime exercises and port visits. BLUEBACK provided an operational submarine against which participating surface and aviation units could conduct antisubmarine warfare training.

During Unitas XVIII, BLUEBACK visited ports in Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile as the force moved along the South American coast. She departed Talcahuano, Chile, on September 27 to begin her return voyage. On the way home, she stopped at Rodman in the Panama Canal Zone and made a four-day liberty visit to Acapulco, Mexico. BLUEBACK reached San Diego on November 11, 1977.

The submarine began 1978 in upkeep. She departed San Diego on February 13 for a short visit to San Francisco and returned on February 21. On March 1, she participated in antisubmarine warfare training in the southern California operating area involving aircraft carrier USS ENTERPRISE (CVN 65). BLUEBACK subsequently continued providing submarine services to surface ships and aircraft. From April 23 through May 23, she underwent replacement of her main storage battery, a major maintenance evolution for a diesel-electric submarine whose submerged endurance depended heavily on battery condition and capacity.

BLUEBACK left San Diego on May 30, 1978, bound for Portland, Oregon, where she represented the Submarine Force during the city's Rose Festival. After the Portland visit she continued north and participated in an exercise with Canadian forces off Esquimalt, British Columbia. She arrived at Seattle on June 23 for a two-day liberty call and then returned to San Diego. A restricted availability began on July 17, followed from August 8 by final preparations for another deployment.

On September 11, 1978, BLUEBACK departed San Diego for the western Pacific. She called briefly at Pearl Harbor on September 22 and continued across the Pacific, arriving at Yokosuka on October 7. From Japan she proceeded to Chinhae, South Korea, for two weeks of joint special-warfare and antisubmarine warfare exercises with South Korean naval forces. On November 5, she arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for antisubmarine warfare exercises with the Taiwanese Navy. From November 14 through November 24, BLUEBACK participated in a Seventh Fleet exercise and afterward proceeded to Sasebo for leave and upkeep. She visited Hong Kong from December 6 through December 11 and then continued to Subic Bay, arriving on December 13. She remained there in upkeep through the end of 1978.

BLUEBACK departed Subic Bay on January 5, 1979, to provide target services for Seventh Fleet ships conducting antisubmarine warfare training. She subsequently participated in special-warfare exercises with U.S. Army Special Forces personnel. On January 22, she returned to Subic Bay for upkeep. On January 31, she departed on another long submerged transit to the United States and arrived at San Diego on March 1.

After several weeks of leave and upkeep, BLUEBACK resumed local operations. She began a tender availability on May 14 and returned to sea on June 12. On August 18, she departed San Diego for visits to Astoria, Oregon, and Seattle and returned to her home port early in September. From September 17 through September 20, she participated in a minelaying exercise off southern California. BLUEBACK entered drydock on October 1. Sea trials began on November 27, after which she again provided submarine services for antisubmarine warfare training before ending the year in holiday leave and upkeep.

BLUEBACK spent the first three and a half months of 1980 in local operations and exercises preparing for another western Pacific deployment. She departed San Diego on April 15 and carried out another extended submerged Pacific transit, completing it at Okinawa on May 11. She subsequently participated in antisubmarine warfare exercises in the Philippine Sea and arrived at Yokosuka for upkeep on May 18 before departing again for special operations.

The deployment coincided with a period of serious political instability in South Korea that prompted the United States to maintain increased naval readiness in waters near the Korean Peninsula. BLUEBACK provided submarine support in connection with American carrier forces operating in the region. One of the carrier groups involved was centered on USS CORAL SEA (CV-43). USS MIDWAY (CV 41), operating with ships that included USS LONG BEACH (CGN 9) and USS MERRILL (DD 976), subsequently assumed the carrier presence associated with the Korean contingency as the deployment continued.

BLUEBACK began June 1980 in upkeep at Sasebo and then went to sea for joint exercises with South Korean forces. Following another period of upkeep and liberty at Sasebo, she departed on June 22 for antisubmarine warfare operations with Japanese submarine ISOSHIO (SS 568). After completing the exercise, BLUEBACK visited Beppu before proceeding to the Philippines. She arrived at Subic Bay on July 8. Following upkeep she participated in another antisubmarine warfare exercise in the South China Sea with Seventh Fleet surface forces.

On July 22, BLUEBACK began the six-day passage to Chinhae for extensive exercises with the South Korean Navy. During early August, she visited both Sasebo and Subic Bay. From August 18 through August 21, she conducted special-warfare operations and afterward entered San Fernando on northern Luzon. BLUEBACK returned to sea on August 25 for antisubmarine warfare operations with Royal Navy ships. Following another visit to Subic Bay, she departed for the United States on September 15. BLUEBACK entered San Diego on October 15, exactly twenty-one years after her commissioning. Post-deployment leave and upkeep followed, after which she conducted several days of type training before ending 1980 in holiday leave and upkeep.

BLUEBACK remained based at San Diego during 1981 and continued to provide submarine services and participate in Pacific Fleet training. During June, she returned to Portland, Oregon, as one of the U.S. Navy ships participating in the Portland Rose Festival and its Fleet Week activities. The visit continued a pattern established during earlier years in which BLUEBACK periodically called at Pacific Northwest ports for public events as well as operational purposes.

By early February 1982, BLUEBACK was again operating in Japanese waters. During an antisubmarine warfare exercise off Sasebo, guided-missile destroyer USS TOWERS (DDG 9), together with Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ships KURAMA (DDH 144) and SAGAMI (AOE 421), trained against BLUEBACK. TOWERS fired practice torpedoes during the exercise. By the end of 1982, the number of conventionally powered attack submarines remaining in active U.S. Navy service had been reduced to only a handful, increasing BLUEBACK's value as a training opponent representative of a submarine type still widely operated by foreign navies.

During 1983 and 1984, BLUEBACK continued San Diego-based Pacific Fleet service, including submarine-target work, weapons training, and antisubmarine warfare exercises. In 1984, she participated in Rimpac 84, adding another major multinational exercise to her long series of Pacific operations. From late July into August, she also participated in Readiex 84-4 and Kernel Usher 84-2. During Kernel Usher, destroyer USS ELLIOT (DD-967) used BLUEBACK in the evaluation of shallow-water antisubmarine warfare tactics. Exercise torpedoes were launched against BLUEBACK from the destroyer, through Asroc, and from aircraft as surface and aviation units practiced coordinated operations against the submarine.

In mid-October 1984, BLUEBACK's crew marked the submarine's twenty-fifth anniversary at Ballast Point in San Diego. By then, she was one of very few diesel-electric submarines still operating in the U.S. fleet. Her continued employment increasingly reflected this distinction. Nuclear-powered submarines constituted the main American attack-submarine force, but BLUEBACK remained particularly useful for training surface ships, aircraft, sonar operators, and antisubmarine warfare teams against the quieter and tactically different characteristics of a conventionally powered submarine.

On August 14, 1985, BLUEBACK participated in naval activities in San Francisco Bay marking the fortieth anniversary of the end of World War II in the Pacific. Ships present included ENTERPRISE, battleship USS NEW JERSEY (BB 62), nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser USS ARKANSAS (CGN 41), BLUEBACK, and the preserved Liberty ship JEREMIAH O'BRIEN. Senior government officials attended the commemorative events associated with the observance.

The conventional U.S. submarine force contracted still further during 1986. Only four diesel-electric attack submarines remained in active service: BLUEBACK, USS BARBEL (SS 580), USS BONEFISH (SS 582), and USS DARTER (SS-576). BLUEBACK remained homeported at San Diego and continued supporting Pacific Fleet training. On July 17, 1986, she was documented operating in the San Diego harbor. BLUEBACK remained operational from San Diego during 1987 and 1988. She continued to require periodic maintenance and intermediate-level support as an aging submarine while remaining useful for antisubmarine warfare training. On October 28, 1988, BLUEBACK was at Tacoma, Washington, berthed at Pier 70. Guided-missile destroyer USS HOEL (DDG 13), also based at San Diego, arrived at the same pier. Both ships remained in Tacoma during the weekend before their scheduled departure the following Monday.

BLUEBACK continued active operations during 1989. On May 25, while taking part in training off southern California, a fire involving her propulsion electrical system disabled the submarine and forced her to surface. No injuries were reported. On May 26, salvage ship USS SAFEGUARD (ARS 50) conducted an emergency tow of BLUEBACK following the casualty. The submarine was repaired and subsequently returned to service rather than being immediately retired.

In August 1989, BLUEBACK appeared at Seattle's Seafair Fleet Week, another of the public port visits that periodically took her to the Pacific Northwest. During the same general period, BLUEBACK and members of her crew were also involved in the production of the motion picture The Hunt for Red October. Sailors from BLUEBACK participated in filming, some appearing as members of a Soviet submarine crew. Interior filming associated with BLUEBACK included scenes made in her torpedo room. The well-known emergency-surfacing sequence used in the film, however, involved nuclear-powered attack submarine USS HOUSTON (SSN 713), not BLUEBACK. The finished film was released in 1990.

By 1990, BLUEBACK was the last operational diesel-electric attack submarine in the U.S. Navy. On February 23, she was photographed alongside the pier at the San Diego submarine base, with submarine tender USS McKEE (AS 41) nearby. Her retirement was already approaching. The significance of her planned decommissioning extended beyond the end of a single submarine's career: after BLUEBACK left service, all operational U.S. Navy combat submarines would be nuclear powered.

BLUEBACK was decommissioned at Naval Submarine Base San Diego on October 1, 1990, after almost thirty-one years of commissioned service. Eleven of her former commanding officers attended the ceremony, including her first commanding officer, retired Captain Robert H. Gautier. Lieutenant Commander Thomas A. Grassi was her final commanding officer. The decommissioning formally ended the era of conventionally powered combat submarines in the U.S. Navy. Following decommissioning, BLUEBACK was transferred to the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Bremerton, Washington. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on October 30, 1990. Unlike most retired American submarines, BLUEBACK was not subsequently scrapped. She was selected for preservation and was donated for use as a museum and memorial on February 10, 1994. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry acquired the submarine, which was towed from Bremerton to Portland, Oregon, and moored on the Willamette River. BLUEBACK opened to the public on May 15, 1994.

On September 18, 2008, BLUEBACK was entered in the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of her historical and engineering significance. She remains preserved at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland and is the only surviving member of the three-boat BARBEL-class.