The Sturgeon class was a class of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines (SSN) in service with the United States Navy from the 1960s until 2004. They were the "workhorses" of the Navy's attack submarine fleet throughout much of the Cold War. The boats were phased out in the 1990s and early 21st century, as their successors, the Los Angeles, followed by the Seawolf and Virginia-class boats, entered service.
Project 651, known in the West by its NATO reporting name Juliett class, was a class of Soviet diesel-electric submarines armed with cruise missiles. They were designed in the late 1950s to provide the Soviet Navy with a nuclear strike capability against targets along the east coast of the United States and enemy combatants. The head of the design team was Abram Samuilovich Kassatsier. They carried four nuclear-capable cruise missiles with a range of approximately 300 nautical miles (560 km), which could be launched while the submarine was surfaced and moving less than four knots (7.4 km/h). Once surfaced, the first missile could be launched in about five minutes; subsequent missiles would follow within about ten seconds each. Initially, the missiles were the inertially-guided P-5. When submarine-launched ballistic missiles rendered the P-5s obsolescent, they were replaced with the P-6 designed to attack aircraft carriers. A special 10 m2 target guidance radar was built into the forward edge of the sail structure, which opened by rotating. One boat was eventually fitted with the Kasatka satellite downlink for targeting information to support P-500 4K-80 "Bazalt" anti-ship cruise missiles. The Juliett class had a low magnetic signature austenitic steel double hull, covered by two inches (51 mm) thick black tiles made of sound-absorbing hard rubber.
The Gato class of submarines were built for the United States Navy and launched in 1941–1943. Named after the lead ship of the class, USS Gato, they were the first mass-production U.S. submarine class of World War II.
USS Gato (SSN-615) was a Thresher/Permit-class nuclear submarine known as the "Goal Keeper" or the "Black Cat." She was the second United States Navy ship named after the gato, a species of small catshark found in waters along the west coast of Mexico.
An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants and merchant vessels. In the Soviet and Russian navies they were and are called "multi-purpose submarines". They are also used to protect friendly surface combatants and missile submarines. Some attack subs are also armed with cruise missiles, increasing the scope of their potential missions to include land targets.
USS Barracuda (SSK-1/SST-3/SS-550), the lead ship of her class, was a submarine that was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the barracuda, a voracious, pike-like fish. Her keel was laid down on 1 July 1949 by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 2 March 1951 as K-1, sponsored by Mrs. Willis Manning Thomas, and commissioned on 10 November 1951. Notably, future President of the United States Jimmy Carter served as an officer on K-1 as part of its pre-commissioning crew and during its first year of active service until he was reassigned on 16 October 1952.
USS Tullibee (SSN-597), a unique submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the tullibee, any of several whitefishes of central and northern North America.
USS Baton Rouge (SSN-689) was a Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine which served with the United States Navy. With her keel laid down on 18 November 1972, Baton Rouge was launched on 26 April 1975. She became the second Los Angeles-class submarine to be commissioned, on 25 June 1977. In 1995, she was the first of her class to be decommissioned, after a collision with a Russian Sierra-class submarine.
The Balao class was a design of United States Navy submarine used during World War II, and with 120 boats completed, the largest class of submarines in the United States Navy. An improvement on the earlier Gato class, the boats had slight internal differences. The most significant improvement was the use of thicker, higher yield strength steel in the pressure hull skins and frames, which increased their test depth to 400 feet (120 m). Tang actually achieved a depth of 612 ft (187 m) during a test dive, and exceeded that test depth when taking on water in the forward torpedo room while evading a destroyer.
USS Bonita (SSK-3/SS-552), a Barracuda-class submarine, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the bonito, a name applied to several types of fish, including the skipjack tuna,, the Atlantic bonito, the lesser amberjack, or the cobia. She was originally named USS K-3 (SSK-3).
USS Bass (SSK-2/SS-551), a Barracuda-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the bass, an edible, spiny-finned fish. She was originally named USS K-2 (SSK-2).
The Permit-class submarine was a class of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines in service with the United States Navy from the early 1960s until 1996. They were a significant improvement on the Skipjack class, with greatly improved sonar, diving depth, and silencing. They were the forerunners of all subsequent US Navy SSN designs. They served from the 1960s through to the early 1990s, when they were decommissioned due to age. They were followed by the Sturgeon and Los Angeles classes.
Tench-class submarines were a type of submarine built for the United States Navy (USN) between 1944 and 1951. They were an improvement over the Gato and Balao classes, only about 35 to 40 tons larger, but more strongly built and with a slightly improved internal layout. One of the ballast tanks was converted to carry fuel, increasing range from 11,000 nautical miles to 16,000 nautical miles. This improvement was also made on some boats of the previous two classes. Further improvements were made beginning with SS-435, which are sometimes referred to as the Corsair class. Initial plans called for 80 to be built, but 51 were cancelled in 1944 and 1945 when it became apparent that they would not be needed to defeat Japan. The remaining 29 were commissioned between October 1944 (Tench) and February 1951 (Grenadier). The last submarine of the Tench class, as well as the last submarine which served during World War II, remaining in service with the U.S. Navy was USS Tigrone (AGSS-419) which was decommissioned on 27 June 1975.
The Skate-class submarines were the United States Navy's first production run of nuclear-powered submarines. They were an evolution of the Tang class in everything except their propulsion plants, which were based on the operational prototype USS Nautilus. The four Skate class boats re-introduced stern torpedo tubes. Although among the smallest nuclear-powered attack submarines ever built, the Skate class served for many years, with the last being decommissioned in 1989. USS Skate was the first submarine to surface at the North Pole, on 17 March 1959.
The V-boats were a group of nine United States Navy submarines built between World War I and World War II from 1921 to 1934 under authorization as the "fleet boat" program.
The Tambor-class submarine was a United States Navy submarine design, used primarily during World War II. They were the USN's first fully successful fleet submarine, and began the war close to the fighting. Six of the class were in Hawaiian waters or the Central Pacific on 7 December 1941, with Tautog at Pearl Harbor during the attack. They went on to see hard service; seven of the twelve boats in the class were sunk before the survivors were withdrawn from front-line service in early 1945; this was the highest percentage lost of any US submarine class. Tautog was credited with sinking 26 ships, the largest number of ships sunk by a US submarine in World War II. The Tambors attained the top speed of 21 knots (39 km/h) and range of 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) of the preceding Sargo class, and improvements included six bow torpedo tubes, a more reliable full diesel-electric propulsion plant, and improved combat efficiency with key personnel and equipment relocated to the conning tower. In some references, the Tambors are called the "T Class", and SS-206 through SS-211 are sometimes called the "Gar class".
An SSN is a nuclear-powered general-purpose attack submarine. SSN is the US Navy hull classification symbol for such vessels; the SS denotes a submarine and the N denotes nuclear power. The designation SSN is used for interoperability throughout NATO under STANAG 1166, though navies use other terms.
SSK was the United States Navy hull classification symbol for a diesel-electric submarine specialized for anti-submarine duties. SS indicated that the vessel was a submarine, and the K suffix that it was a hunter-killer. The United States Navy does not currently operate any submarines of this type, and so the designation is inactive.
Project Nobska was a 1956 summer study on anti-submarine warfare (ASW) for the United States Navy ordered by Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arleigh Burke. It is also referred to as the Nobska Study, named for its location on Nobska Point near the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The focus was on the ASW implications of nuclear submarines, particularly on new technologies to defend against them. The study was coordinated by the Committee on Undersea Warfare (CUW) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). It was notable for including 73 representatives from numerous organizations involved in submarine design, submarine-related fields, and weapons design, including senior scientists from the Atomic Energy Commission's nuclear weapons laboratories. Among the participants were Nobel laureate Isidor Rabi, Paul Nitze, and Edward Teller. The study's recommendations influenced all subsequent US Navy submarine designs, as well as submarine-launched ASW tactical nuclear weapons until this weapon type was phased out in the late 1980s. New lightweight and heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo programs were approved. Although not on the initial agenda, the Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) was determined to be capable of implementation at this conference. Within five years Polaris would dramatically improve the US Navy's strategic nuclear deterrent capability.
K-68 was a "Project 651" diesel–electric submarine built for the Soviet Navy during the 1960s. Commissioned in 1965, the boat was armed with long-range cruise missiles to carry out its mission of destroying American aircraft carriers and bases. The missiles could be fitted with either conventional or nuclear warheads. While much of the submarine's activities during the Cold War are unknown, she did make at least one patrol in the Mediterranean Sea before serving as the test bed for an auxiliary nuclear reactor from 1976 to 1991. K-68 was decommissioned in 1992 and subsequently scrapped.
United States Navy 
