USS Batfish (SSN-681)
USS Batfish (SSN-681) at the end of March 1995 in the western Atlantic Ocean on her way to a six-month Mediterranean Sea deployment as part of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) carrier battle group.
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| History | |
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 United States of America
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| Name: | USS Batfish (SSN-681) |
| Namesake: | The , the name of any of several fishes |
| Ordered: | 25 June 1968 |
| Builder: | General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut |
| Laid down: | 9 February 1970 |
| Launched: | 9 October 1971 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. Arthur R. Gralla |
| Commissioned: | 1 September 1972 |
| Decommissioned: | 17 March 1999 |
| Struck: | 17 March 1999 |
| Fate: | Scrapping via Ship and Submarine Recycling Program completed 22 November 2002 |
| Badge: |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Sturgeon-class submarine |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 302 ft 3 in (92.13 m) |
| Beam: | 31 ft 8 in (9.65 m) |
| Draft: | 28 ft 8 in (8.74 m) |
| Installed power: | 15,000 shaft horsepower (11.2 megawatts) |
| Propulsion: | One S5W nuclear reactor with S3G3 modified core, two steam turbines, one screw |
| Speed: |
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| Test depth: | 1,300 feet (396 meters) |
| Complement: | 112 (14 officers, 98 enlisted men) |
| Armament: | 4 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes |
USS Batfish (SSN-681), a Sturgeon-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the batfish.
The contract to build Batfish was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 25 June 1968 and her keel was laid down there on 9 February 1970. She was launched on 9 October 1971, sponsored by Mrs. Arthur R. Gralla, and commissioned on 1 September 1972 with Commander Richard E. Enkeboll in command.
After commissioning, Batfish was assigned Naval Station Charleston at Charleston, South Carolina, as her home port.
On 22 January 1973 Batfish ran hard aground at Charleston while proceeding to sea. She was pulled free by tugs and returned to port where extensive damage to her bottom was repaired.
On 2 March 1978, Batfish, commanded by Commander (later Rear Admiral) Thomas Evans, left Charleston on what would transpire to be a remarkable 77-day patrol known as "Operation Evening Star". On 17 March 1978, Batfish detected a Soviet Navy Yankee I-class ballistic missile submarine in the Norwegian Sea some 200 nautical miles (370 km) above the Arctic Circle.Batfish began trailing the boat, collecting valuable information on how the Soviet Navy operated. During the next 50 days, the Yankee I never detected Batfish. Batfish only lost contact with the boat twice, the first time during a bad storm, and the second time when a fishing fleet passed overhead. Both times, Batfish quickly reacquired the Soviet submarine.
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