USS Whale (SSN 638)

- decommissioned -

USS WHALE was the second STURGEON - class fast attack submarine and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name. Both decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on June 25, 1996, the WHALE had already been deactivated on April 28, 1995, and entered the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., on October 20, 1995. Recycling of the submarine was finished on July 1, 1996.

General Characteristics:	Awarded: November 30, 1961
	Keel Laid: May 27, 1964
	Launched: October 14, 1966
	Commissioned: October 12, 1968
	Decommissioned: June 25, 1996
	Builder: General Dynamics Corp., Quincy, MA.
	Propulsion system: one S5W2 nuclear reactor
	Propellers: one
	Length: 292 feet (89 meters)
	Beam: 31.7 feet (9.65 meters)
	Draft: 29.2 feet (8.9 meters)
	Displacement: Surfaced: approx. 4,250 tons
	Displacement: Submerged: approx. 4,700 tons
	Speed: Surfaced: approx. 15 knots
	Speed: Submerged: approx. 30 knots
	Armament: four 533 mm torpedo tubes for Mk-48 torpedoes, Harpoon, Tomahawk, and SUBROC missiles, ability to lay mines
	Crew: 12 Officers, 95 Enlisted

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS WHALE. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

Click here to view the list.

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USS WHALE Image Gallery:

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