USS Guitarro (SSN-665): Difference between revisions

{{nomore footnotes needed|date=January 2012}}

|Ship class= {{sclass-|Sturgeon|submarine}}

|Ship test depth={{convert|1,300 feet (396 meters)|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}

'''USS ''Guitarro'' (SSN-665)''', a {{sclass-|Sturgeon|submarine}}, was the second ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for the [[guitarfish|guitarro]], a [[batoidea|ray]] of the [[guitarfish]] family.

The contract to build ''Guitarro'' was awarded to [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]] at [[Vallejo, California|Vallejo]], [[California]], on 18 December 1964 and her [[keel]] was laid down there on 9 December 1965. She was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 27 July 1968, sponsored by Mrs. John M. Taylor, wife of Vice Admiral John Taylor.

[[Image:USS Guitarro (SSN-665) after sinking.jpg|300px|thumb|left|''Guitarro'' on the bottom of the [[Napa River]] after her accidental sinking at [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]] at [[Vallejo, California|Vallejo]], [[California]], on 15 May 1969.]] On 15 May 1969, ''Guitarro'' was moored in the [[Napa River]] at Mare Island Naval Shipyard while construction was still underway. At about 16:00, a civilian [[Nuclear navy|nuclear]] construction group began anto instrumentcalibrate calibrationthe assignment[[aft]] ballast tanks, which required thethem fillingto offill certainthe tanks, locatedwith [[aft]]approximately of the ship{{'convert|5|ST}}s pivot point, with approximately five [[ton]]s of water. Within 30 minutes, a different, non-nuclear civilian construction group began an assignment to bring ''Guitarro'' within a half-degree of [[Sailing ballast|trim]]; this entailed the addingof water to tanksthe forward ofballast the ship{{'}}s pivot pointtanks to overcome a reported two-degree up-[[Bow (ship)|bow]] attitude. Until shortly before 20:00, both groups continued to add water, unaware of each other's activities.<ref name=danfs/>

Twice between 16:30 and 20:00, a security watch advised the non-nuclear group that ''Guitarro'' was riding so low forward that the 1.5-foot-high (0.46 m) wakes of boats operating in the Napa River were sloshing into anthe uncoveredsonar dome [[manhole]], inbut the mostgroup forward and lowest portion ofignored the ship's deck; these warnings went unheeded. At 19:45, the non-nuclear group stopped adding water to the [[ballast tank]]s and began to halt work for their meal break, leaving at 20:00. At 19:50, the nuclear group completed their calibrations and began to empty the tanks aft.<ref name=danfs/>

At 20:30, both the nuclear group, still aboard, and the non-nuclear group, returning from their break, noticed ''Guitarro'' taking a sudden down angle which put the forward hatches underwater. Massive flooding took place through several large open hatches. Efforts between 20:30 and 20:45 to close watertight doors and hatches were largely unsuccessful because lines and cables ran through the doors and hatches, preventing them from closing. At 20:55, ''Guitarro'' sank, [http://www.sid-hill.com/history/maresink.htm]leaving only her sail above water, earning her the nickname "Mare Island Mud Puppy".<ref name=danfs/>

''Guitarro'' had been scheduled to be commissioned in January 1970, but repairs necessitated by her sinking dictated a 32-month delay. She finally was [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 9 September 1972 with [[Commander]] Gordon Lange in command.

{{Expand section|history from 1972 to the mid-to-late 1970s|date=January 2010}}

*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08665b.htm NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive Guitarro (SSN-665) Sinking & Commissioning] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425121239/http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08665b.htm |date=25 April 2009 }}

*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08665c.htm NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive Guitarro (SSN-665) Active Service - Decommissioning] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425111908/http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08665c.htm |date=25 April 2009 }}

*{{Cite book|url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951d021564901|title=Sinking of the U.S.S. Guitarro (SSN 665) :hearings before the United States House Committee on Armed Services, Armed Services Investigating Subcommittee, Ninety-First Congress, first session, on May 26-28, 1969.|last=|firstseries=Sinking of the USS Guitarro |date=1969-05-26|publisher=US Congress|year=|isbn=|location=Mare Island, Vallego, California|pages=254|hdl = 2027/umn.31951d021564901}}

*[https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/s/sinking-of-the-uss-guitarro.html LetterThe Sinking of the USS Guitarro] Report to [[L. Mendel Rivers]], Chairmanchairman, Committee on Armed Services from Samuel S. Stratton, Chairmanchairman, Special Subcommittee To Investigate the Sinking of the U.S.S. ''Guitarro''.