Sturgeon-class submarine

USS Sturgeon
Class overview
Name:	Sturgeon class
Builders:	General Dynamics Electric Boat General Dynamics Quincy Ingalls Shipbuilding Portsmouth Naval Shipyard New York Shipbuilding Newport News Shipbuilding Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Thresher class
Succeeded by:	Los Angeles class
Subclasses:	Long-hull variant (9 boats)
Built:	1963–1975
In commission:	1967–2004
Completed:	37
Retired:	37
General characteristics
Type:	Nuclear-powered attack submarine
Displacement:	3,640 long tons (3,698 t) surfaced 4,640 long tons (4,714 t) submerged
Length:	Short hull: 292 ft 3 in (89.08 m) Long hull: 302 ft 3 in (92.13 m)
Beam:	31 ft 8 in (9.65 m)
Propulsion:	1 × S5W Pressurized water reactor 2 × steam turbines, total 15,000 shp (11,000 kW) 1 shaft
Speed:	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) surfaced 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph) submerged
Range:	Unlimited, except by food supplies
Test depth:	1,320 ft (400 m)
Complement:	107
Armament:	4 × 21 in (533 mm) amidship torpedo tubes with up to 21 reload weapons including: Mark 48 and Mk-48 ADCAP torpedoes, typically 4 Harpoon missiles or up to 8 Tomahawk missiles, and 2-4 SUBROC anti-submarine missiles In minelaying configuration: Mark 67 Submarine Launched Mobile Mines and Mark 60 CAPTOR mines instead of torpedoes.

The Sturgeon class (known colloquially in naval circles as the 637 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.

The Sturgeons were essentially lengthened and improved variants of the Thresher/Permit class that directly preceded them. The five-compartment arrangement of the Permits was retained, including the bow compartment, operations compartment, reactor compartment, auxiliary machinery room no. 2, and the engine room. The extra length was in the operations compartment, including longer torpedo racks to accommodate additional Mark 37 torpedoes, the most advanced in service at the time of the class's design in the late 1950s. The class was designed to SUBSAFE requirements, with seawater, main ballast, and other systems redesigned for improved safety. The biggest difference was the much larger sail, which permitted a second periscope and additional intelligence-gathering masts. The fairwater planes mounted on the sail could rotate 90 degrees, allowing the submarine to surface through thin ice. Because the S5W reactor was used, the same as in the Skipjacks and Thresher/Permits, and the displacement was increased, the Sturgeons' top speed was 26 knots (48 km/h), 2 knots slower than the Thresher/Permits. The last nine Sturgeons were lengthened 10 feet (3 m) to provide more space for electronic equipment and habitability. The extra space also helped facilitate the use of dry deck shelters first deployed in 1982.

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