USS Guitarro (SSN-665): Difference between revisions

{{short description|Submarine of the United States}}

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

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}

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

|Ship test depth={{convert|1,300|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.

On 15 March 1969 during a meeting with the shipyard managers, Cmdr. William G. Lange urged them to create centralized control and designate responsibility for all construction. The shipyard representatives dismissed his idea, saying "the shipyard had been building ships for a long time without the need for such a procedure and no one had been killed or equipments damaged yet."

[[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 to calibrate the [[aft]] ballast tanks, which required them to fill the tanks with approximately {{convert|5|ST}} 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 adding water to the forward ballast tanks 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 the sonar dome [[manhole]], but the group ignored the warnings. 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, leaving only her sail above water, earning her the nickname "Mare Island Mud Puppy".<ref name=danfs/>

=== Causes===

In an attempt to correct what they thought was an out of trim condition, the non-nuclear construction team in the forward part of the boat purposefully defeated safety measures preventing accidentally filling ballast tanks while the sub was under construction. During construction, steel plates are welded over the ballast tanks flood ports to prevent water from getting into the tanks and putting the submarine in an unsafe condition. The construction crew put a fire hose down the tank's vent pipe and forced it past the check valve.<ref name=navymil/>

The Congressional report concluded that the sinking was caused in large part by "the action, or inaction, of certain construction workers who either failed to recognize an actual or potential threat to the ship's safety or assumed that it was not their responsibility." The report stated that the "lack of centralized control and responsibility for all construction" was the overriding cause.<ref name=navymil>[https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/s/sinking-of-the-uss-guitarro.html Sinking of USS Guitarro (SSN-665)]</ref>

One of the factors contributing to the ship's sinking was the open manhole used to access the bow structure sonar dome containing the boat's sonar sphere. The manhole has a bolted cover which had been removed for maintenance purposes. The opening was protected by a [[cofferdam]] approximately {{convert|3|ft}} high. The cofferdam was intended to prevent water from accidentally entering the dome and contacting the exposed electronic gear.<ref name=danfs>[https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/guitarro-ii--ssn-665-.html Guitarro II (SSN-665) 1972–1994]</ref>

To facilitate repair work, the cofferdam and the bolted manhole cover were removed in early March 1969 and neither the cofferdam nor the cover was ever replaced. When the construction crews added and then removed water from the ballast tanks, affecting the boat's trim, the manhole was exposed to waves caused by the wake of other vessels, causing the boat to sink at the bow, eventually filling the entire submarine.<ref name=danfs/>

=== Refloating===

=== Lessons learned===

Among other recommendations affecting communication, management, and supervision of ship construction, the report authors recommended that cables and lines running through watertight hatches and doors be equipped with quick disconnect fittings.<ref name=navymil/>

''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.

{{Expand section|date=January 2010}}

[[File:1990 Oct Russian Tour of USS Guitarro (SSN-665).jpg|thumb|USS ''Guitarro'' (SSN-665) hosting the first tour of a US nuclear submarine by high-ranking Russian officials]]

In the mid-to-late 1970s, ''Guitarro'' was stationed at [[Point Loma]] in [[San Diego, California|San Diego]], California, commanded by Alvin H. Pauole, followed by Scott Van Hoften.

''Guitarro'' played a major role in developing tactics for prototype combat systems deployed to the Pacific submarine fleet, in particular the new [[Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System|Submarine Towed Array Sensor System]] (STASS) along with its BQR-20 series digital sonar displays. In the mid-1970s, Guitarro also installed the first digital submarine combat system (BQQ-5 sonar and Mk-117 fire control system) and participated in the development of submarine-launched Harpoon and Tomahawk cruise missiles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/why-the-u-s-navy-needs-to-get-back-to-prototyping|title = Why the U.S. Navy Needs to Get Back to Prototyping}}</ref>

She was active at the time in the pre-operational testing of the new [[Tomahawk cruise missile]], launching several of the missiles on a test range off the coast of [[Southern California]].

=== Notes ===

{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===

{{Refbegin}}

*{{Naval Vessel Register|{{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=SSN665}}}}

*[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|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.|series=Sinking of the USS Guitarro |date=1969-05-26|publisher=US Congress|location=Mare Island, Vallego, California|pages=254|hdl = 2027/umn.31951d021564901}}

{{Refend}}

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

*[https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/guitarro-ii--ssn-665-.html Guitarro II (SSN-665) 1972–1994]

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