STURGEON CLASS SUBMARINE

''Sturgeon'' class attack submarine
USS Sturgeon
Class Overview
Class Type	Attack Submarine
Class Name	Sturgeon
Preceded By	Chronologically: ''James Madison''-class ballistic missile submarine By Type: ''Thresher/Permit''-class attack submarine
Succeeded By	Chronologically: ''Benjamin Franklin''-class ballistic missile submarine By Type: ''Los Angeles''-class attack submarine
Ships of the Class:	See the list below for the all ships of the ''Sturgeon'' class

The '''Sturgeon''-class' (colloquially in Navy circles, the '637 class') attack submarine (SSN) were the "work horses" of the submarine attack fleet throughout much of the Cold War. They were phased out in the 1990s and early 21st century in favor of the ''Los Angeles'' and ''Virginia'' classes.
All ''Sturgeon''s were designed to surface through ice, with a reinforced sail and diving planes capable of rotating all the way to vertical. Those in Squadron 4 all had modified designs. ''Sunfish'' had a polymer bow, which allowed better sonar reception. ''Batfish'' had rubber insulation mounted on its hull for quieter operation. ''Narwhal'' had electric engines also for quieter operation.
Beginning with ''Archerfish'' (SSN-678) units of this class had a 10-foot longer hull, giving them more living and working space than previous submarines. ''Parche'' (SSN-683) received an addition 100-foot hull extension containing research and development equipment that brought her total length to 401 feet.
A total of six boats were modified to carry the SEAL Dry Deck Shelter, indicated below by "(DDS)". The DDS is a submersible launch hangar with a hyperbaric chamber attached to the ship's Weapon Shipping Hatch. DDS-equipped boats were tasked with the covert insertion of special forces troops.

Contents

General Characteristics

Ships

Short Hull

Long Hull

Derivatives

External links

See also

General Characteristics

★ Displacement: 4960 tons submerged

★ Length: 292 feet / 89 metres (short hull), 302 feet / 92 metres (long hull), 401 feet / 122 metres (''Parche'')

★ Beam: 32 feet / 9.7 metres

★ Propulsion: S5W reactor

★ Speed: 25+ knots / 46 km/h submerged

★ Depth: 1300 feet /400 metres

★ Complement: 107

★ Armament: Four torpedo tubes

Ships

Short Hull

★ (SSN-637)  ''Sturgeon''

★ (SSN-638)  ''Whale''

★ (SSN-639)  ''Tautog''

★ (SSN-646)  ''Grayling''

★ (SSN-647)  ''Pogy''

★ (SSN-648)  ''Aspro''

★ (SSN-649)  ''Sunfish''

★ (SSN-650)  ''Pargo''

★ (SSN-651)  ''Queenfish''

★ (SSN-652)  ''Puffer''

★ (SSN-653)  ''Ray''

★ (SSN-660)  ''Sand Lance''

★ (SSN-661)  ''Lapon''

★ (SSN-662)  ''Gurnard''

★ (SSN-663)  ''Hammerhead''

★ (SSN-664)  ''Sea Devil''

★ (SSN-665)  ''Guitarro''

★ (SSN-666)  ''Hawkbill''

★ (SSN-667)  ''Bergall''

★ (SSN-668)  ''Spadefish''

★ (SSN-669)  ''Seahorse''

★ (SSN-670)  ''Finback''

★ (SSN-672)  ''Pintado''

★ (SSN-673)  ''Flying Fish''

★ (SSN-674)  ''Trepang''

★ (SSN-675)  ''Bluefish''

★ (SSN-676)  ''Billfish''

★ (SSN-677)  ''Drum''

Long Hull

★ (SSN-678)  ''Archerfish'' (DDS)

★ (SSN-679)  ''Silversides'' (DDS)

★ (SSN-680)  ''William H. Bates'' (ex-''Redfish'') (DDS)

★ (SSN-681)  ''Batfish'' (DDS)

★ (SSN-682)  ''Tunny'' (DDS)

★ (SSN-683)  ''Parche'' (R&D)

★ (SSN-684)  ''Cavalla'' (DDS)

★ (SSN-686)  ''L. Mendel Rivers'' (DDS)

★ (SSN-687)  ''Richard B. Russell''

Derivatives

Two other Navy vessels were based on the ''Sturgeon'' hull, but were modified for experimental reasons:

★ (SSN-671)  ''Narwhal''

★ (SSN-685)  ''Glenard P. Lipscomb''

External links

★ fas.org: ''Sturgeon'' class

★ Bellona Report - (Russian source)

See also