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USS Narwhal (SSN 671)

- decommissioned -

USS NARWHAL was the Navy's 100th nuclear-powered submarine and the third ship in the Navy to bear the name. Basically a STURGEON - class attack submarine, the USS NARWHAL was the Navy's test submarine for the S5G nuclear reactor, resulting in increased length and displacement compared to the other STURGEON - class submarines. This new reactor was designed to considerably reduce the noise level of a submarine and made the NARWHAL, at the time of commissioning, the quietest submarine in the US Navy.

Decommissioned in January 1999, the NARWHAL is currently laid up at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., and might become a museum in the future.

General Characteristics:Awarded: 1964
Keel Laid: January 17, 1966
Launched: September 9, 1967
Commissioned: July 12, 1969
Decommissioned: January 1999
Builder: General Dynamics Corp., Groton, Conn.
Propulsion system: one S5G nuclear reactor
Propellers: one
Length: 314 feet (95.7 meters)
Beam: 38 feet (11.6 meters)
Draft: 26 feet (7.9 meters)
Displacement: Surfaced: approx. 4,800 tons
Submerged: approx. 5,350 tons
Speed: Surfaced: approx. 20 knots
Submerged: approx. 25 knots
Armament: four 533 mm torpedo tubes for Mk-48 torpedoes, Harpoon, Tomahawk, and SUBROC missiles, ability to lay mines
Crew: 12 Officers, 95 Enlisted


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Crew List:

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


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Accidents aboard USS NARWHAL:

DateWhereEvents
December 31, 1985Palma de Majorca, SpainUSS NARWHAL drifts for several hours in Palma Bay and drags the bottom a few times after her anchor chain breaks during a storm on New Year's Eve. A subsequent investigation reveals that NARWHAL's anchor chain was defective.
September 22, 1989Charleston, SC.USS NARWHAL sustains minor damage during Hurricane Hugo while submerged at the Charleston Naval Base. The submarine was moored with nine double wires and two three-inch ship's lines, all but one of which were ripped loose during the first half of the storm. During the eye of the storm, the captain discovered the submarine had drifted to the center of the Cooper River. Tugboats and the NARWHAL crew unsuccessfully tried to move the submarine back to the pier. As the storm began again, the captain submerged the submarine in the river and the NARWHAL rode out the remainder of the hurricane with only part of its conning tower exposed.


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The photo below was taken by me and shows the NARWHAL laid-up at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash. on March 14, 2010.



The photo below was taken by me and shows the NARWHAL laid-up at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash. on May 12, 2012.



The photo below was taken by me and shows a number of decommissioned nuclear-powered attack submarines laid up at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash. The photo was taken from Port Orchard, Wash., on May 12, 2012. The submarines' names are on the photo.



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