View source for USS Grayback (SSG-574)

{{Short description|Lead ship of US Navy submarine class}}
{{other ships|USS Grayback}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= [[Image:USS Grayback;0857404.jpg|300px|Grayback (LPSS-574), underway, c. 1968]]
|Ship caption=''Grayback'' (LPSS-574), underway, c. 1968
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country= United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1984}}
|Ship name= USS ''Grayback''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=10 March 1951
|Ship builder=Mare Island Naval Shipyard
|Ship laid down=1 July 1954
|Ship launched= 2 July 1957
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. [[John Anderson Moore|John A. Moore]]
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 7 March 1958, as SSG-574
|Ship decommissioned= 25 May 1964
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship country= 
|Ship recommissioned= 9 May 1969, as LPSS-574
|Ship decommissioned= 15 January 1984
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck= 16 January 1984
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=[[Pearl Harbor]]
|Ship motto= ''De Profundis Futurus''
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate= Sunk as a target near [[Subic Bay]], 13 April 1986
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class= {{sclass|Grayback|submarine}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1740|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} light
*{{convert|2768|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full
|Ship length={{convert|273|ft|m|abbr=on}} later extended to {{convert|317|ft|7|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|27|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|19|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion= 3 [[Fairbanks Morse 38 8-1/8 diesel engine|Fairbanks-Morse]] [[Diesel engines]], 2 Elliott [[electric motor]]s
|Ship speed=*{{convert|15|kn|lk=in}} surfaced,
*{{convert|12|kn|lk=in}} submerged|Ship range= 
|Ship complement=84 officers and men
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=* 2 × [[SSM-N-8 Regulus|Regulus missile hangars]] (4 x [[SSM-N-8 Regulus|Regulus I]] missiles or 2 x [[Regulus II]] missiles)
* 8 × [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s (6 bow, 2 stern)|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Grayback'' (SS/SSG/APSS/LPSS-574)''', the lead ship of [[Grayback-class submarine|her class]] of [[submarine]], was the second ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for the [[Grayback (fish)|grayback]].

==Construction and commissioning==
''Grayback''′s [[keel]] was [[Keel-laying|laid down]] on 1 July 1954 by the [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]] of [[Vallejo, California]]. She was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 2 July 1957, sponsored by Mrs. [[John Anderson Moore|John A. Moore]], widow of the last [[commanding officer]] of the previous {{USS|Grayback|SS-208}}, and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] at Mare Island on 7 March 1958. ''Grayback'' was initially designated as an [[attack submarine]], but was converted in 1958 into a [[guided-missile submarine]] (SSG-574) armed with the [[SSM-N-8 Regulus|Regulus nuclear cruise missile]].

==Operational history==
===Guided missile submarine===
[[File:USS Grayback (SSG-574) building.jpg|thumb|left|''Grayback'' prior to launch]]
[[Image:Graybackmissle.jpg|thumb|left|''Grayback'' preparing to launch a Regulus II missile]]
''Grayback'' represented a new class of SSG guided missile submarines, and was to be the first to carry the [[Regulus II]] sea-to-surface missile. In 1958, ''Grayback'' conducted tests and shakedown along the West Coast. While operating out of [[Naval Base Ventura County]] in [[Port Hueneme, California]], in September 1958 she conducted the first successful launching of a Regulus II missile from a submarine, whose predecessor, [[Regulus missile|Regulus I]], had led to the capability of navies to attack land bases since its deployment in 1957. Regulus II was cancelled in December 1958 except for test firing of missiles already built,<ref>[http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-15.html "Vought SSM-N-9/RGM-15 Regulus II."] Parsch, Andreas, ''Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles'', 2001. Retrieved: 6 January 2013.</ref> so ''Grayback'' operationally deployed with four Regulus I missiles. Departing [[San Diego, California]], on 30 October, ''Grayback'' arrived at [[Pearl Harbor]] on 8 November for a month of exercises and maneuvers before returning to Mare Island for her "10,000 mile checkup."

On 9 February 1959, ''Grayback'' departed Mare Island to make Pearl Harbor her permanent home base, reaching Hawaii on 7 March via [[Port Hueneme, California]], [[Long Beach, California]], and [[Mazatlan, Mexico]]. After a series of exercises there, she cruised to [[Dutch Harbor]], [[Umak Island]], Sequam Island, and [[Kodiak, Alaska]], for further missile exercises from 3&ndash;31 July. This was followed by the first of her nine deterrent missile strike missions, from 21 September to 12 November.  ''Grayback''{{'}}s first patrol terminated at [[United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka|Yokosuka, Japan]], as did two others. She returned to [[Pearl Harbor]] 8 December.

On 22 February 1960, ''Grayback'' modified her missile launching system and simplified her complex electrical circuits. After this, she again took up deterrent missile strike missions. Over the next 2½ years she completed seven missions for a total of nearly 18 months at sea, much of this time submerged. In addition to Yokosuka, both [[Adak, Alaska]], and [[Pearl Harbor]] also served as termination points for these patrols. On her nine patrols she spent more than 20 months at sea and logged over 130,000 miles (209,000&nbsp;km) on deterrent missile strike missions.

That schedule took its toll.  On 27 August 1963, while snorkeling to recharge batteries, ''Grayback'' was buffeted by particularly strong seas. The buffeting caused the After Main Battery breaker to short, starting a fire in the berthing compartment. One seaman failed to evacuate the compartment and was overcome by smoke and fumes. Main propulsion was lost for a short time, was restored, and ''Grayback'' returned to [[Pearl Harbor]] under her own power. Repairs took two weeks.

According to the documentary "Regulus: The First Nuclear Missile Submarines" the primary target for ''Grayback'' in the event of a nuclear exchange would be to eliminate the Soviet naval base at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.<ref name="auto">''Regulus: The First Nuclear Missile Submarines'' documentary, Spark, 2002</ref> The patrols made by ''Grayback'' and its sister Regulus-firing submarines represented the first ever deterrent patrols in the history of the submarine Navy, preceding those made by the Polaris missile firing submarines.<ref name="auto"/>

As more [[UGM-27 Polaris|Polaris missile]] submarines became operational, they assumed the deterrent functions previously assigned to ''Grayback'' and her sister ships.  The Regulus missile program ended in 1964 and ''Grayback'' was withdrawn from active service. She decommissioned at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, [[California]], on 25 May 1964.

===Amphibious transport submarine===
{{stack|[[Image:USS Grayback DN-ST-86-01652.jpg|thumb|1982 view]]}}
A second conversion began at the [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]] in November 1967. The conversion was originally estimated at US$15.2 million, but grew to over US$30 million. She was re-classified from a guided missile submarine to an amphibious transport submarine with [[hull classification symbol]] LPSS-574 on 30 August 1968. (The [[Naval Vessel Registry]] entry for ''Grayback'' shows that at one point she was classified as a "plain" transport submarine, an APSS. The term "APSS", for Auxiliary Personnel Submarine, appeared on the construction plans and documents during the conversion design and construction period (per Structural Naval Architect, Mare Island, 1966-1968). Crew memoirs indicated that they were never aware of it. Presumably, while this classification was "official," it may have lasted only days.)

[[File:USS Grayback (SSG-574) sink.jpg|thumb|left|''Grayback'' painted orange for sinking]]

The conversion heightened her sail by ten feet, added two auxiliary tanks to the forward end of the engine room (increasing the length of the boat by 12 feet), and converted the missile chambers to carry 67 embarked troops and SEAL [[Swimmer Delivery Vehicle]]s (SDVs), including a decompression chamber in the starboard hangar.

In June 1972, the ''Grayback'' carried a team of [[Navy SEALs]] into the coastal waters of [[North Vietnam]] as part of [[Operation Thunderhead]]. This was the last attempt during the [[Vietnam War]] to rescue American [[prisoner of war|POWs]] held in North Vietnam.

In January 1982 five U.S. Navy divers died when a vacuum was inadvertently drawn in a chamber on ''Grayback'' off the coast of Subic Bay. The diving accident led to changes in how the Navy designed, built, maintained and operated complex submarine based diving systems.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davies |first=Sydney |date=2020-01-16 |title=January 16, 2020 - Commemorating the 38-Year Anniversary of the USS Grayback Accident |url=https://eblanding.com/2020/01/16/january-16-2020-commemorating-the-38-year-anniversary-of-the-uss-grayback-accident/ |access-date=2024-01-24 |website=EB Landing |language=en-US}}</ref>

''Grayback'' was decommissioned for the second time on 15 January 1984 at [[U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay|Subic Bay]] Naval Station in the [[Republic of the Philippines]]. After decommissioning, ''Grayback'' was sunk as a target on 13 April 1986 in the South China Sea.
{{clear}}

==Awards==
{{multiple images|image1=Silver Navy Submarine Patrol Insignia.jpg|image2=SubGoldPatrol.jpg |align=right |direction=vertical |width=200 |caption2=SSBN Deterrent Patrol Pin, in silver and gold. Crewmen that served aboard ''Grayback'' and conducted strategic deterrent patrols were permitted to wear the SSBN Deterrent Patrol insignia from 1997.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.navynucweps.com/History/Regulus%20GMU10/RegulusPatrol.pdf |title=Patrol Insignia for Regulus veterans |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=Summer 1997 |website=Navy Nuclear Weapons Association |access-date=12 November 2014}}</ref>}}
{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=National Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=103}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=Vietnam Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=103}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Vietnam Campaign Medal ribbon with 60- clasp.svg|width=103}}
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|[[National Defense Service Medal]]
|[[Vietnam Service Medal]]
|[[Vietnam Campaign Medal|Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal]]
|}
In April 1997, officers and men of ''Grayback'' and the other four US Navy submarines that conducted [[Deterrence theory|strategic deterrent]] patrols in the Western Pacific between 1959 and 1964 were awarded the right to wear the Navy's [[SSBN Deterrent Patrol insignia]].

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/grayback-ii.html}}
Gardiner, Robert. "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995." London: Conway Maritime Press, Ltd, 1995 Pg. 609-610

== External links ==
{{Commons category|USS Grayback (SSG-574)}}
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08574.htm navsource.org: USS ''Grayback'']
* [http://ussgrayback574.com/ USS ''Grayback'' tribute webpage]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/ssg-574.htm USS ''Grayback'' technical information, pictures schematics]

{{Grayback class submarine}}
{{Regulus submarines}}
{{1986 shipwrecks}}

{{coord missing|Pacific Ocean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grayback (Ssg-574)}}
[[Category:Grayback-class submarines]]
[[Category:Cold War submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Vietnam War submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the South China Sea]]
[[Category:Ships built in Vallejo, California]]
[[Category:1957 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1986]]
[[Category:Ships sunk as targets]]