View source for USS Grayling (SSN-646)

{{short description|Submarine of the United States}}
{{Other ships|USS Grayling}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= [[File:USS Grayling (SSN-646)2.jpg|300px|USS Grayling (SSN-646)]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Grayling'' (SSN-646)
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1997}}
|Ship name=''Grayling''
|Ship namesake=The [[Arctic grayling|grayling]], a fresh water [[game fish]] closely related to the [[trout]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=5 September 1962
|Ship builder=[[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard]], [[Kittery, Maine|Kittery]], Maine
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=12 May 1964
|Ship launched=22 June 1967
|Ship sponsor=Miss Lori Brinker
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=11 October 1969
|Ship decommissioned= 18 July 1997
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck= 18 July 1997
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
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|Ship honors=
|Ship identification=[[Hull number]]: SSN-646
|Ship fate= Scrapping via [[Ship and Submarine Recycling Program]] completed 31 March 1998
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=[[File:Insignia of SSN-646 Grayling.PNG|200px]]
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Sturgeon|submarine|0}} [[attack submarine]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|3956|LT|t|0|lk=in|abbr=on}} light
*{{convert|4252|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full
*{{convert|296|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} dead
|Ship length={{convert|289|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|32|ft|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship draft={{convert|29|ft|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship power={{cvt|15,000|shp|MW|lk=on}}
|Ship propulsion= One [[S5W reactor|S5W]] [[nuclear reactor]], two [[steam turbine]]s, one [[Propeller (marine)|screw]]
|Ship speed={{convert|16|kn|lk=in}} standard
|Ship range=
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|Ship test depth= {{cvt|1300|ft}}
|Ship complement=109 (14 [[Commissioned officer|officers]], 95 [[Enlisted man|enlisted men]])
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|Ship armament=4 × {{convert|21|in|mm|0|adj=on}} [[torpedo tube]]s
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'''USS ''Grayling'' (SSN-646)''', a {{sclass|Sturgeon|submarine|0}} [[attack submarine]], was the fifth ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for the [[Arctic grayling|grayling]]. Her [[keel]] was laid down in 1964, and she was launched just over three years later, and commissioned in 1969. She was involved in the [[submarine incident off Kola Peninsula]] on 20 March 1993, when she collided with the [[Russian Navy]] submarine {{ship|Russian submarine|Novomoskovsk|K-407|2}}. She was decommissioned in 1997, and disposed of a year later.

==Construction and commissioning==
The contract to build ''Grayling'' was awarded on 5 September 1962 and her [[keel]] was laid down at the [[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard]] at [[Kittery, Maine|Kittery]], Maine, on 12 May 1964. She was [[Ship naming and launching#United States|launched]] on 22 June 1967, sponsored by Miss Lori Brinker, the daughter of [[Lieutenant commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] Robert Brinker, who was [[commanding officer]] of the previous {{USS|Grayling|SS-209|3}} when she was lost with all hands in September 1943 during [[World War II]]. ''Grayling'' (SSN-646) was [[Ship commissioning#United States Navy|commissioned]] on 11 October 1969.

==Service history==

===Collision with Russian submarine, 1993===
{{Main|Submarine incident off Kola Peninsula}}
On 20 March 1993, ''Grayling'' collided with the [[Russian Navy]] [[submarine]] {{ship|Russian submarine|Novomoskovsk|K-407|2}},<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gazeta.ru/2004/02/17/oa_112354.shtml
|title=President witnesses strategic missile force's failure |date=17 February 2004 |access-date=29 October 2008}}</ref><ref>[http://www.armscontrol.ru/subs/collisions/comm0319.htm "Collision of Two U.S. Nuclear Powered Submarines on March 19, 1998"]. ''Center for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology'', 8 April 1998.</ref> a ''Delfin''-class ([[NATO reporting name]] [[Delta-class submarine|Delta IV-class]]) [[ballistic missile submarine]] north of [[Murmansk]]. ''Grayling'' had been tracking the Russian unit when the collision happened.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/23/world/us-and-russian-subs-in-collision-in-arctic-ocean-near-murmansk.html U.S. and Russian Subs in Collision In Arctic Ocean Near Murmansk] by Michael E. Gordon. The New York Times, 23 March 1993</ref> The American submarine collided with the starboard bow of ''Novomoskovsk''; neither submarine sustained serious damage.<ref>Sontag, Sherry and Drew, Christopher (1998). ''Blind Man's Bluff: The untold story of American submarine espionage. ''  Thorndyke press, p. 590. {{ISBN|0786218762}}</ref>

===1993–1997===
{{Expand section|History for 1993–1997|date=January 2010}}

In June 1996, ''Grayling'' took part in Exercise [[TAPON 96]],<ref>[http://www.mesotheliomaweb.org/mesothelioma/veterans/submarines/uss-grayling USS ''Grayling'' (SSN-646), History, Patrols and Crews] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912041107/http://www.mesotheliomaweb.org/mesothelioma/veterans/submarines/uss-grayling/ |date=12 September 2011 }}, Mesothelioma Web Organization. Retrieved on 25 May 2013</ref> a [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] exercise held in the [[Alboran Sea]], [[Gulf of Cadiz]], and eastern Atlantic Ocean, along with the U.S. Navy [[destroyer]] {{USS|Conolly|DD-979|6}}, the {{ship|Spanish aircraft carrier|Príncipe de Asturias}}, the Spanish [[frigate]]s {{ship|Spanish frigate|Baleares||2}}, {{ship|Spanish frigate|Santa María|F81|2}}, and {{ship|Spanish frigate|Numancia|F83|2}}, the Spanish [[submarine]] {{ship|Spanish submarine|Delfin|S61|2}}, and the {{ship|Greek destroyer|Formion|D220|6}}.

==Decommissioning and disposal==
''Grayling'' was deactivated on 1 March 1997, placed in commission in reserve a week later as she entered the [[Ship and Submarine Recycling Program]], then decommissioned and stricken from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 18 July 1997. Her scrapping via the U.S. Navy{{'}}s Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at [[Puget Sound Naval Shipyard]] at [[Bremerton, Washington|Bremerton]], Washington, was completed on 31 March 1998.

==Commemoration==
''Grayling''{{'}}s [[Sail (submarine)|sail]] is now a memorial on the grounds of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Maine, and her [[anchor]] and chain are on display as a memorial at The American Legion Post 106 in downtown [[Grayling, Michigan|Grayling]], Michigan.

==See also==
*[[Submarine incident off Kildin island]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/grayling-v.html}}
*{{Naval Vessel Register|{{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=SSN646}}}}
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08646.htm NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive Grayling (SSN-646)]

{{Sturgeon class submarine}}
{{1993 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grayling (Ssn-646)}}
[[Category:Ships built in Kittery, Maine]]
[[Category:Sturgeon-class submarines]]
[[Category:Cold War submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:1967 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1993]]
[[Category:United States submarine accidents]]