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USS Gato (SSN 615)

USS GATO was one of the PERMIT - class nuclear-powered attack submarines and the second ship in the Navy named after the specie of small shark found in waters along the west coast of Mexico. Both decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on April 25, 1996, the GATO subsequently entered the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash. Recycling was completed on November 1, 1996.

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Crew List:

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

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Accidents aboard USS GATO:

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USS GATO History:

USS GATO was the second United States Navy ship to bear the name GATO and the last PERMIT-class nuclear-powered attack submarine to remain in commission. Her name came from the Gato, a small shark found off the Pacific coast of Mexico, and it also carried forward the record of USS GATO (SS 212), the World War II submarine whose service had made the name familiar within the American submarine force. The nuclear-powered USS GATO entered a very different naval world. Instead of diesel-electric war patrols in the Pacific, she was built for the Cold War pattern of long submerged endurance, anti-submarine warfare, surveillance, fleet support, and operations whose details were often not made public. Her career would run from the Vietnam War era through the end of the Cold War and into the first years of the post-Cold War drawdown.

USS GATO was authorized in the Fiscal Year 1960 shipbuilding program, and her construction contract was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics at Groton, Connecticut. Her keel was laid there on December 15, 1961. At the time she belonged to the THRESHER/PERMIT design line, a group of nuclear attack submarines intended to combine improved sonar, higher submerged performance, greater diving depth, and quieter operation than earlier American nuclear attack submarines. The loss of USS THRESHER (SSN 593) on April 10, 1963, changed the construction history of the boats still being built. USS GATO, like USS FLASHER (SSN 613) and USS GREENLING (SSN 614), was extensively modified while under construction. These changes reflected the Navy's post-THRESHER emphasis on submarine safety, seawater-system integrity, reserve buoyancy, quality assurance, and emergency survivability.

USS GATO was launched at Groton on May 14, 1964. Her sponsor was Mrs. Lawson P. Ramage, wife of Rear Admiral Lawson P. Ramage, a senior officer in the Atlantic submarine force and a Medal of Honor recipient from World War II submarine service. After launching, USS GATO was towed to the Quincy Division of General Dynamics at Quincy, Massachusetts, for additional construction and modification work. The modifications included lengthening the hull by adding a new section amidships, installing a larger sail, and making changes to improve the integrity of seawater systems. These changes increased the boat's size and internal volume and were part of the broader redesign that reshaped the later members of the class.

After fitting out, trials, and final preparation, USS GATO was commissioned on January 25, 1968. Commander Albert J. Baciocco Jr. became her first commanding officer. USS GATO entered service during a period of heavy Cold War naval activity. The Vietnam War was still underway, the Soviet Navy was expanding its submarine and surface presence, and the United States Navy was using nuclear attack submarines increasingly for surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, and forward operations. During her first year after commissioning, USS GATO steamed nearly 50,000 miles, a rapid start that reflected how quickly she moved from a long construction and modification period into active Atlantic Fleet service.

In August 1968, USS GATO became the first nuclear-powered submarine to visit Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her visit was connected with the UNITAS exercise series, the annual multinational naval exercise that brought United States ships together with Latin American navies for training and interoperability. In early August 1968, a hunter-killer group that included the aircraft carrier USS RANDOLPH (CVS 15), Destroyer Squadron Thirty-Two, and the nuclear-powered attack submarine USS GATO conducted advanced maneuvers with the Brazilian Navy. USS GATO was also identified as the first nuclear-powered submarine to participate in a UNITAS exercise. Her 1968 South Atlantic activity therefore marked not only a port visit but also the introduction of a nuclear-powered submarine into an exercise series that had previously relied on older diesel-electric submarines for much of its undersea training component.

On June 28, 1969, Commander L. Burkhardt III relieved Commander Baciocco as commanding officer. During 1969 and 1970, USS GATO participated in two large-scale anti-submarine warfare exercises and conducted at least one highly classified mission. One of the most notable incidents in USS GATO's career occurred during the night of November 14 to November 15, 1969, in northern waters near the entrance to the White Sea. Later public accounts identify the incident as a collision in the Barents Sea area with the Soviet HOTEL-class ballistic-missile submarine K-19. USS GATO was operating submerged, and later descriptions place her at about 200 feet. The collision reportedly damaged K-19's bow sonar area and forward torpedo-tube covers, while USS GATO was not seriously damaged and was able to continue her patrol. The incident took place within the wider setting of intense United States and Soviet undersea operations, in which American attack submarines monitored Soviet ballistic-missile and attack submarines near their operating areas and transit routes.

In the early 1970s, USS GATO continued Atlantic Fleet operations, anti-submarine warfare exercises, and classified work. On September 3, 1971, Commander D. G. Harsheid relieved Commander Burkhardt. In 1972 and 1973, USS GATO underwent a regular overhaul at Ingalls Shipbuilding at Pascagoula, Mississippi. The overhaul updated her armament and electronic sensor equipment and returned the submarine to service at a time when nuclear attack submarines were increasingly central to the Navy's ability to monitor Soviet naval movements in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Arctic approaches.

After her overhaul, USS GATO resumed operations with the Atlantic Fleet. In 1974 and 1975, she deployed twice to the Mediterranean Sea for operations with the United States Sixth Fleet. The Mediterranean was one of the principal Cold War maritime theaters. Soviet naval forces maintained an active presence there, the Middle East remained strategically unstable after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, and the United States Navy used the Sixth Fleet to support NATO's southern flank, monitor Soviet movements, and maintain access to key sea lanes.

On November 9, 1974, Commander R. G. Partlow relieved Commander Harsheid. Under Commander Partlow, USS GATO continued the demanding pattern of Cold War attack-submarine service. Her record for 1974 and 1975 included recognition for anti-submarine warfare performance, and she received Meritorious Unit Commendations for classified or operationally significant work.

Late in 1975, USS GATO participated in Exercise Ocean Safari, a major North Atlantic Treaty Organization maritime exercise in the eastern North Atlantic and Norwegian Sea. Ocean Safari involved about 65 ships, hundreds of aircraft, and more than 17,000 personnel. The exercise tested NATO maritime readiness, command and control, sea-lane defense, and the ability to support Allied Command Europe from the sea. Soviet surveillance of the exercise was active, with repeated aircraft overflights, intelligence ships, surface combatants, and submarines monitoring the participating forces. In the exercise scenario, USS GATO served as one of the opposing-force submarines. Her role as an exercise adversary reflected the value of nuclear attack submarines in testing surface-force anti-submarine warfare under realistic conditions.

In 1976, USS GATO carried out one of the most publicly distinctive operations of her career. During UNITAS XVII, she became the first nuclear-powered submarine to circumnavigate South America and the first nuclear-powered submarine to transit the Strait of Magellan. The voyage placed her in a long-running exercise series designed to improve interoperability between the United States Navy and South American navies. Her participation also showed the increasing use of nuclear-powered submarines in missions previously conducted with diesel-electric submarines. For South American navies, training with USS GATO offered experience against a far more capable undersea opponent; for the United States Navy, the deployment combined operational training, naval diplomacy, and a demonstration that nuclear-powered attack submarines could support hemispheric exercise commitments far from their usual Atlantic and Mediterranean operating areas.

On July 1, 1978, Commander J. W. Asher relieved Commander Partlow as commanding officer. During the late 1970s, USS GATO continued Atlantic Fleet service, including operations in the Atlantic, Caribbean, Mediterranean, and South Atlantic operating areas.

On December 3, 1980, Commander K. A. Lee relieved Commander Asher. In the early 1980s, USS GATO remained part of the Atlantic attack-submarine force during a period of renewed Cold War tension. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, the growth of Soviet submarine operations, and the Reagan-era emphasis on maritime pressure and forward naval activity made attack submarines central to United States naval planning. USS GATO's public awards record for this period includes anti-submarine warfare recognition in 1982 and 1983 and a Battle Efficiency "E" in 1982.

On January 27, 1984, Commander A. E. Lawver relieved Commander Lee. During Commander Lawver's tour, USS GATO continued Atlantic Fleet operations. On February 4, 1985, she returned to her home port from a Mediterranean deployment. This deployment confirms that USS GATO remained part of the Sixth Fleet operating pattern into the mid-1980s, even as newer LOS ANGELES-class submarines increasingly dominated the attack-submarine force. In 1984 and 1985, USS GATO also earned communications awards, and in 1986, after participation in two successful Atlantic Fleet exercises, she received favorable recognition from Commander Second Fleet for the quality of her anti-submarine warfare analysis and recommendations.

In May 1986, USS GATO's crew and families marked the fortieth anniversary of the commissioning of the earlier USS GATO (SS 212) with a ceremony at the NAUTILUS Memorial in Groton, Connecticut. The event was connected with the unveiling of a large scale model of the World War II submarine at the Naval Submarine Museum. During the ceremony, Captain Allen Lawver presented the night order book of Commander Robert Foley, a wartime commanding officer of the earlier USS GATO, to the museum curator. The event illustrated the continuing link between the nuclear-powered USS GATO and her World War II namesake.

USS GATO also earned retention recognition in 1986 and 1987 and a Damage Control "DC" award in 1986. These awards, while less visible than deployments and exercises, are useful indicators of the boat's continued activity and internal performance during a period when older nuclear submarines required sustained crew proficiency, maintenance discipline, and careful engineering management to remain effective.

In January 1988, USS GATO marked the twentieth anniversary of her own commissioning. Seventeen World War II crew members from USS GATO (SS 212) attended the celebration, again linking the Cold War submarine with the wartime submarine whose name she carried. On February 19, 1988, Commander L. A. Shatzer relieved Commander Lawver. USS GATO's late-1980s service came as the Cold War was entering its final phase. Soviet naval power remained a central planning concern, but political changes in Eastern Europe and arms-control developments were beginning to reshape the strategic environment.

On June 14, 1990, Commander H. A. Williams relieved Commander Shatzer. His tenure was brief, and on September 4, 1990, Commander J. B. Allen relieved Commander Williams. These command changes occurred during a year of major international transition. The Cold War order was breaking down rapidly, Germany reunified on October 3, 1990, and the United States was also responding to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990.

On March 24, 1992, Commander R. L. Zeller relieved Commander Allen. USS GATO continued to serve during the early post-Cold War drawdown, when the United States Navy was reducing and reorganizing the submarine force while retiring many older nuclear submarines. USS GATO received a Medical "M" in 1991, a Damage Control "DC" award in 1992, and a Supply "E" in 1993. On March 17, 1994, a public Navy photographic record shows USS GATO operating off the outer reef of Key West Harbor, Florida, where a swift boat came alongside to transfer Key West Navy League members and other visitors for a tour. This is one of the few precisely documented public-facing events from the submarine's final years and shows that she remained active enough to conduct underway guest embarkation near Key West.

On November 22, 1994, Commander R. Martinez relieved Commander Zeller and became USS GATO's final commanding officer. On April 7, 1995, USS GATO held a departure ceremony at Naval Submarine Base Groton, Connecticut. The ceremony marked her departure from the New London-Groton area, the submarine base region associated with her commissioning and much of her operational life. From there she moved into the final phase leading toward inactivation and disposal.

USS GATO was formally decommissioned at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, on April 25, 1996, and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register the same day. At the time of decommissioning she was the last PERMIT-class nuclear-powered attack submarine still in commission. Over 28 years of commissioned service, she had steamed more than 650,000 miles. After decommissioning, she entered the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Recycling was completed on November 1, 1996.

USS GATO's documented awards included five Meritorious Unit Commendations, Battle Efficiency "E" awards for 1969, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, and 1982, anti-submarine warfare "A" awards for 1974, 1975, 1976, 1982, and 1983, Communications "C" awards for 1984, 1985, and 1994, Damage Control "D" awards for 1986 and 1992, an Engineering "E" for 1976, a Medical "M" for 1991, Retention Silver Anchor awards for 1986 and 1987, and a Supply "E" for 1993.

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