USS Skate (SSN-578)
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Skate with an ice pack behind her
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| History | |
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| Name: | USS Skate |
| Ordered: | 18 July 1955 |
| Builder: | Electric Boat |
| Laid down: | 21 July 1955 |
| Launched: | 16 May 1957 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs Lewis L. Strauss |
| Commissioned: | 23 December 1957 |
| Decommissioned: | 12 September 1986 |
| Struck: | 30 October 1986 |
| Homeport: | New London, Connecticut, Submarine Tender USS Fulton (AS-11) |
| Fate: | Submarine recycling program |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Skate-class submarine |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 267 ft 7 in (81.56 m) |
| Beam: | 25 ft (7.6 m) |
| Propulsion: | S3W reactor |
| Speed: |
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| Complement: | 8 officers and 76 men |
| Armament: | 8× 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes (6 forward, 2 aft) |
USS Skate (SSN-578), the third submarine of the United States Navy named for the skate, a type of ray, was the lead ship of the Skate class of nuclear submarines. She was the third nuclear submarine commissioned, the first to make a completely submerged trans-Atlantic crossing, and the second submarine to reach the North Pole and the first to surface there.
The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat division of General Dynamics on 18 July 1955, and her keel was laid in Groton, Connecticut on 21 July 1955. She was launched on 16 May 1957 sponsored by Mrs. Lewis L. Strauss, and commissioned on 23 December 1957 with Commander James F. Calvert in command.
Skate conducted shakedown training out of New London, Connecticut until 29 January 1958, when she cruised to the Bermuda operating area, then returned to her home port on 8 February. Sixteen days later, the nuclear powered submarine set a course for the Isle of Portland, England. Before returning home, she had also visited ports in France and the Netherlands.
On 30 July, Skate sought the Arctic where she operated under the ice for 10 days. During this time, she surfaced nine times through the ice, navigated over 2,400 miles (3,900 km) under it, and on 11 August, 9:47 pm EDT (the week after USS Nautilus) became the second sea ship to reach the North Pole. Skate was unable to surface precisely at the Pole on the August voyage due to dangerous ice conditions as noted in the captain's 1960 book, "Surface at the Pole: The Extraordinary Voyages of the USS Skate," where Calvert said, "Seldom had the ice seemed so heavy and so thick as it did in the immediate vicinity of the pole. For days we had searched in vain for a suitable opening to surface in." The closest was to make radio contact at the surface from a polynya around 30 nm away, but not to surface fully owing to the risk of damage from ice. Skate did manage to surface and make contact with Drifting Ice Station Alpha at 85ºN, 300 nm away.
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