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USS Gurnard (SSN 662)

One of the STURGEON - class fast attack submarines, the USS GURNARD was the second ship in the Navy to bear the name. Both decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on April 28, 1995, the USS GURNARD subsequently entered the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Wash. Recycling of the submarine was finished on October 15, 1997.

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Crew List:

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

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Accidents aboard USS GURNARD:

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USS GURNARD History:

USS GURNARD was the second United States Navy ship to carry the name GURNARD, following the World War II submarine USS GURNARD (SS 254). Her construction contract was awarded on October 24, 1963, to Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Vallejo, California. Her keel was laid on December 22, 1964. She was launched on May 20, 1967, sponsored by Mrs. George P. Miller, wife of Representative George P. Miller of California. The first members of the commissioning crew arrived at Vallejo in July 1967 and participated in the final phases of construction, testing, training, and acceptance. USS GURNARD was commissioned on December 6, 1968, with Commander William S. Cole Jr. in command.

After commissioning on December 6, 1968, USS GURNARD entered service with the Pacific submarine force. During her first six months in commission, she operated in local operating areas under Commander Submarine Flotilla One and Commander Submarine Squadron Five. This early period was devoted to shakedown, crew qualification, engineering training, weapons and sonar work, anti-submarine warfare training, and the normal process of bringing a new nuclear-powered attack submarine from newly commissioned status into operational readiness.

In September 1969, USS GURNARD departed Vallejo and shifted toward her regular operational pattern as a San Diego-based Pacific Fleet attack submarine. By the October 31, 1969 time frame, she was operating from the San Diego and Ballast Point area and began her first Western Pacific deployment cycle. During the outward movement, she stopped at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where she fired two Subroc missiles and was certified as a Subroc launch platform. This was an important early milestone, because Subroc was a standoff anti-submarine weapon intended to give a nuclear attack submarine the ability to engage hostile submarines at greater range than a conventional torpedo attack. During this first Western Pacific deployment, USS GURNARD made liberty or support visits in Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Guam, and Hawaii. She returned to San Diego in May 1970.

On September 22, 1970, USS GURNARD sailed to Pearl Harbor for a two-month period. While en route to Hawaii, she participated in an fleet exercise. In January 1971, she conducted a two-month deployment and returned directly to San Diego at its conclusion. This was the first port-to-port deployment by a San Diego-based submarine, meaning that she left from and returned directly to her home port without an intermediate port visit recorded as part of the deployment cycle.

During June 1971, USS GURNARD was involved in testing new concepts in passive sonar classification and in work connected with expanding the capabilities of the Navy's satellite navigation system. Both areas were important to submarine operations in the Cold War. Passive sonar classification improved a submarine's ability to identify contacts without revealing its own position, while improved satellite navigation helped submarines operating independently across large ocean areas maintain more accurate positional knowledge. During the same general period, USS GURNARD also replaced her main storage battery at Ballast Point, a job noted as the first such attempt at that location. In July 1971, she deployed again to the Western Pacific. That deployment took place during the Vietnam War period, and USS GURNARD earned the Vietnam Service Medal. She returned to San Diego in December 1971.

In May 1972, USS GURNARD again deployed to the Western Pacific. In early July, as she approached Guam, she was diverted into a search-and-rescue operation after a United States Air Force B-52 crashed in the western Pacific during Typhoon Rita. On July 8, 1972, while USS GURNARD was inbound from the direction of Japan, the aircraft, known by the call sign Cobalt 2 and commanded by Captain Leroy Johnson, had taken off from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam shortly after 04:00 with a six-man crew. After the aircraft became uncontrollable, the crew bailed out, and by 05:25 the survivors were in the ocean. Heavy weather made rescue by surface ships extremely difficult, and both USS BARB (SSN 596) and USS GURNARD were ordered to assist.

USS BARB reached the area first and spent the night attempting to recover survivors in severe sea conditions. On the morning of July 9, 1972, USS BARB recovered Major Ronald Dvorak, Lieutenant William Neely III, Lieutenant Kent Dodson, and Airman Daniel Johansen. USS GURNARD reached another survivor, Captain Leroy Johnson, and brought him aboard. Lieutenant Colonel J. L. Vaughn, the radar navigator, did not survive. The rescued airmen were returned to Guam. Both USS BARB and USS GURNARD received the Meritorious Unit Commendation for the operation, and several individual sailors received commendations for their work during the rescue.

After the 1972 Western Pacific deployment and the Typhoon Rita rescue operation, USS GURNARD entered a maintenance and overhaul period. By April and May 1973, she was undergoing overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. Commander Ralph W. West Jr. assumed command during this period. USS GURNARD returned to San Diego in November 1973 after an eight-month overhaul. This yard period came during a time when Pacific Fleet submarines were being used heavily for Western Pacific, North Pacific, and Cold War surveillance operations, and when modernization and maintenance of existing nuclear-powered attack submarines were essential to keeping the force operational.

USS GURNARD deployed again to the Western Pacific in July 1974. She participated in fleet exercises, independent operations, and operations with a Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle. These rescue-vehicle operations reflected the Navy's continuing emphasis on submarine rescue capability after the losses of USS THRESHER (SSN 593) and USS SCORPION (SSN 589) in the previous decade.

In March 1976, USS GURNARD deployed to the Arctic region for Subicex 1-76. Her commanding officer during this Arctic period was Commander Ralph W. West Jr. Arctic operations were technically demanding and strategically important. They tested under-ice navigation, sonar performance, surfacing through ice, communications, endurance, and the ability of nuclear-powered submarines to operate in an environment where ice cover limited access to the surface and complicated emergency procedures. During this deployment, USS GURNARD set a record reported as 42 days of operations during Subicex 1-76. On April 14, 1976, she surfaced through the ice at the North Pole. The event was documented by Navy photography and became one of the major milestones of her service life. During 1976, USS GURNARD also hosted actor Charlton Heston for a ride connected with his preparation for the submarine film Gray Lady Down.

USS GURNARD later entered a refueling overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. She completed that overhaul in February 1978. It was a fourteen-month refueling overhaul and it was completed unusually quick for a STURGEON-class submarine. During this overhaul, USS GURNARD received the AN/BQQ-5 sonar system and the Mark 117 fire-control system. These upgrades were important because sonar and fire-control modernization were central to keeping older nuclear-powered attack submarines effective as Soviet submarines became quieter and as American submarines were expected to perform increasingly complex tracking and weapons-control missions. A Navy photographic record places USS GURNARD in the Pacific on November 10, 1978, confirming active operations later that year after her return from overhaul.

Over the next two years, USS GURNARD completed two further Western Pacific deployments and several independent ship operations. During this period, the United States Navy maintained a high level of submarine activity in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The Soviet Pacific Fleet remained a major focus, while the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea were becoming increasingly important because of regional instability, Soviet influence in Asia, the aftermath of the Vietnam War, and the strategic importance of sea routes connected to the Persian Gulf.

On July 20, 1980, while USS GURNARD was in San Diego, she was involved in a reported radioactive-water spill. About 30 gallons of water containing radioactive material were released into San Diego Bay after a crewman accidentally opened a valve. A Navy spokesman stated that water sampling showed no increase in general background radioactive levels in the affected area. The incident was treated as a small local release.

In 1981, USS GURNARD was tasked with operations in the Indian Ocean during a period shaped by the Iranian hostage crisis, the recent change in Iran's regional position, and continuing United States concern over security in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. The Iranian hostage crisis formally ended on January 20, 1981, but the regional naval implications continued beyond that date. USS GURNARD received the Navy Expeditionary Medal for this period of Indian Ocean operations. In September 1981, she responded to high-priority tasking, loaded out, and deployed in less than 36 hours, bound for the mid-Pacific.

In April 1982, USS GURNARD participated in Rim of the Pacific activity, commonly known as Rimpac. Her ship history record credits her with simulated or exercise "sinkings" of more than 300,000 tons of opposing-force shipping. Rimpac exercises were multinational Pacific exercises intended to improve tactical coordination, anti-submarine warfare, air and surface operations, and interoperability among United States and allied forces. Later in 1982, USS GURNARD again deployed to the Western Pacific. The deployment included several Far Eastern port visits.

USS GURNARD continued active Pacific Fleet service through 1983 and 1984. On April 22, 1983, Commander Clifford A. Wiese relieved Commander Edward L. Morgan as commanding officer. In 1984, USS GURNARD again participated in Rimpac. Later that year, she carried out one of the major Arctic operations of her career. From September to November 1984, she operated under Arctic ice with USS PINTADO (SSN 672). During PacSubicex, the two submarines spent an extended period under the ice, and USS GURNARD spent 44 days under Arctic ice. On November 12, 1984, USS GURNARD and USS PINTADO rendezvoused and surfaced together at the North Pole, becoming the third pair of submarines to do so. USS GURNARD was commanded by Commander Clifford A. Wiese, while USS PINTADO was commanded by Commander Richard P. Vidosic. The 1984 Arctic operation took place at a time when under-ice operations were closely connected to Cold War planning because the Arctic provided routes between the Atlantic and Pacific and lay near Soviet northern naval areas.

In May 1985, USS GURNARD entered an extended overhaul at Bremerton, Washington. This overhaul was an eighteen-month yard period. GURNARD returned to operational availability in February 1987. During this overhaul, she received an Electrostatically Suspended Gyro Navigation system, a Mark 1 fire-control system, and modifications that made her capable of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles. These changes reflected the broader modernization of older attack submarines in the 1980s. Nuclear-powered attack submarines were no longer limited to torpedo and anti-submarine missile roles but were increasingly integrated into land-attack and wider strike planning through Tomahawk capability.

On March 14, 1987, Commander John C. Bickford relieved Commander Clifford A. Wiese as commanding officer. USS GURNARD then returned to operations from San Diego. In March 1988, USS GURNARD departed for another Western Pacific deployment and returned in the fall. This deployment occurred in the final years of the Cold War, when the Pacific Fleet still maintained a strong submarine presence in waters near Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Guam, and the wider Western Pacific.

On May 23, 1989, USS GURNARD ran aground off San Diego while submerged during a routine training mission. There were no injuries and no reported major damage. Later ship-history material links the period after the incident with extensive sonar-dome repairs, and USS GURNARD returned to sea in August 1989 for sea trials. She then continued the year with local operations and Mark 48 Advanced Capability torpedo certification.

In March 1990, USS GURNARD deployed to the Arctic region for Ice Exercise 1990. She operated jointly in the Arctic with USS SEAHORSE (SSN 669), commanded by Commander Paul E. Taylor, while USS GURNARD was commanded by Commander William F. Espinoza. The exercise used an ice-camp support structure and involved under-ice operations by both submarines. During this deployment, USS GURNARD completed only the fourth winter submerged transit of the Bering Sea. On April 18, 1990, USS GURNARD surfaced at the North Pole in company with USS SEAHORSE. On her return route to San Diego, USS GURNARD passed through the Panama Canal. When she returned to her home port, she was credited as the third United States submarine to circumnavigate the North American continent.

On September 17, 1990, USS GURNARD was photographed in company with USS DIXON (AS 37) and USS GUITARRO (SSN 665) as USS DIXON departed San Diego. The three ships were associated with Exercise FallEx 90. This placed USS GURNARD in a Pacific Fleet exercise cycle during the same year as her Arctic deployment. FallEx was part of the Navy's broader late-Cold War and immediate post-Cold War pattern of fleet exercises intended to maintain readiness, test coordination among ships and submarines, and support tactical development.

At the beginning of 1991, USS GURNARD was still operating from San Diego. On January 1, 1991, she was photographed in San Diego Harbor with crewmen working in her torpedo room. On February 1, 1991, she was photographed underway as she departed San Diego. She departed in January 1991 for a Western Pacific deployment during which she participated in joint exercises with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and conducted operations with the Republic of Korea Navy. This deployment took place during a year of major geopolitical transition. Operation Desert Storm was under way in the Persian Gulf in January and February 1991, the Soviet Union was nearing collapse, and the United States Navy was beginning to adjust from a Cold War operating pattern toward a combination of regional crisis response, alliance-focused exercises, and post-Cold War force restructuring.

In January and February 1992, USS GURNARD participated in prospective commanding officer operations in Hawaii. Pacific Fleet submarine exercise records identify USS GURNARD with USS HONOLULU (SSN 718) in prospective commanding officer and composite training activity from February 3, 1992, to February 13, 1992, in the Mid-Pacific area. These operations supported command training and fleet tactical readiness. Commander Bert L. Smith III relieved Commander Espinoza on March 18, 1992. After the Hawaii operations, USS GURNARD underwent a three-month maintenance period. She then completed the rest of 1992 with local operations and fleet exercises.

In January 1993, USS GURNARD began her final extended Western Pacific deployment. She returned to San Diego in July 1993. During the six-month deployment, she participated in multiple joint exercises with Korean, Japanese, Thai, and United States naval forces. After returning from the 1993 Western Pacific deployment, USS GURNARD participated in Exercise Kernel Raider off the Southern California coast. Kernel Raider was a joint and combined-arms exercise connected with the Navy and Marine Corps shift toward littoral warfare concepts after publication of the "...From the Sea" strategic concept. The exercise involved Navy, Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force elements and included amphibious-assault, naval special warfare, mine warfare, explosive ordnance disposal, marine mammal, surface, air, and close-air-support components.

Commander Neil E. Rondorf relieved Commander Smith on April 10, 1993, during the period of USS GURNARD's final operational deployment cycle, and Commander Chester J. Malins relieved Commander Rondorf on November 7, 1993. Commander Malins was USS GURNARD's final commanding officer. By 1994, the submarine was moving toward the end of her service life after more than a quarter century in commission. USS GURNARD was formally decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on April 28, 1995. Her retirement came during the post-Cold War reduction of the United States submarine force, when older STURGEON-class boats were being retired as the Navy adjusted to a smaller force structure, budget pressure, changing strategic assumptions, and the increasing prominence of newer submarines. After decommissioning, ex-USS GURNARD entered the Navy's Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. That process dismantled the submarine under the Navy's established procedures for defueled nuclear-powered ships and submarines. Recycling of ex-USS GURNARD was completed on October 15, 1997.

A part of USS GURNARD survived in a different form after the submarine herself ceased to exist. Submarine diving-plane fins from decommissioned United States Navy attack submarines were incorporated into John T. Young's public artwork The Fin Project: From Swords Into Plowshares at Magnuson Park in Seattle, Washington, installed in 1998. USS GURNARD is associated with that project, which used Cold War submarine components in a public memorial and environmental-art setting.

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