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USS Finback (SSN 670)

USS FINBACK was the 22^nd STURGEON - class attack submarine. Both decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on March 28, 1997, the FINBACK subsequently entered the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Wash. Recycling of the submarine was finished on October 30, 1997.

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Crew List:

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

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Accidents aboard USS FINBACK:

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USS FINBACK History:

USS FINBACK was the second United States Navy submarine to bear the name Finback. The contract for USS FINBACK was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company at Newport News, Virginia, on March 9, 1965. Her keel was laid down on June 26, 1967. She was launched on December 7, 1968, sponsored by Mrs. Charles F. Baird, the former Norma Baird, wife of Under Secretary of the Navy Charles F. Baird. The launch date was deliberately notable because it was the first American warship launch on December 7 since the end of the Second World War. USS FINBACK began sea trials on October 26, 1969. The first trials tested her nuclear propulsion plant under the close scrutiny of the Navy's nuclear propulsion program, while additional trials tested sonar, weapons, communications, ship control, and other systems before delivery to the fleet. She was commissioned on February 4, 1970, with Commander Robert C. Austin in command, and joined the United States Atlantic Fleet.

USS FINBACK was a short-hull STURGEON-class nuclear-powered attack submarine. A particularly important feature of her early design and fitting was that she was the first submarine configured as a mother ship for the Navy's newly developed deep submergence rescue vehicle. That gave her a role in the development of modern submarine rescue capability in addition to her standard attack-submarine missions.

After commissioning, USS FINBACK carried out shakedown and post-delivery work in the Atlantic Fleet. During shakedown training, she fired a full complement of torpedoes and missiles and went through the inspections, examinations, drills, and corrective work required of a newly commissioned nuclear submarine. From September 14, 1970, to November 19, 1970, she underwent post-shakedown availability, during which repairs and modifications were completed after her initial trials and training. Her early months also placed her within the dense operational environment of Norfolk-based attack submarines. She joined Submarine Squadron Six at Norfolk and took part in several kinds of submarine work that would shape the first phase of her career: fleet exercises, ballistic-missile-submarine security, advanced anti-submarine warfare training, towed-array testing, and Mk 48 torpedo operational evaluation.

USS FINBACK's first operational years were busy. Under Commander Austin, she was engaged in almost every major type of submarine task available to an Atlantic Fleet attack submarine. Public recollections from her first commanding officer describe security operations for fleet ballistic-missile submarines, advanced anti-submarine warfare exercises, development work with towed arrays, the firing of many Mk 48 torpedoes during operational evaluation of the new weapon, major fleet exercises, and an early deployment considered important enough to earn her first Navy Unit Commendation.

During the first three months of 1971, USS FINBACK participated in several exercises and readiness events. Sources identify Security Exercise 2-71 from January 22, 1971, to January 30, 1971, together with anti-submarine warfare training and other submarine operations. Later in 1971, she continued in fleet work and submarine exercises, and from November 5, 1971, to November 22, 1971, she participated in Operational Readiness Exercise 2-71.

At the beginning of 1972, USS FINBACK continued this pattern. From January 3, 1972, to January 15, 1972, she participated in Security Exercise 1-72. On January 31, 1972, she took part in an operational test. On April 15, 1972, Commander Frank B. Kelso II relieved Commander Austin as commanding officer. Kelso's later career would carry him to the highest levels of the Navy, but during this period he was one of the officers leading the maturing STURGEON-class attack-submarine force in Cold War operations. Commander Connelly D. Stevenson subsequently assumed command during 1972, and USS FINBACK continued operating from the Atlantic Fleet side of the Navy's submarine force.

On January 8, 1974, USS FINBACK was involved in a documented pier-side accident at Naval Base Norfolk. The submarine rescue ship USS KITTIWAKE (ASR 13) sustained minor hull damage in a collision with USS FINBACK at the destroyer-submarine piers. During this general period, USS FINBACK also went through demanding maintenance and operating cycles. A 1974 overhaul at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard imposed a heavy workload on the crew and had been completed ahead of schedule.

In 1975, USS FINBACK became connected with an unusual and publicly reported incident that later reached the Chief of Naval Operations. On July 10, 1975, while USS FINBACK was at Port Canaveral, Florida, a civilian dancer was brought aboard as the submarine was preparing to get under way for operations off the Bahamas. The incident involved a short performance on the port fairwater plane as the submarine was moving out, and it became conspicuous because the ballistic-missile submarine USS ALEXANDER HAMILTON (SSBN 617) passed nearby. USS FINBACK continued to the Bahamas area, but on August 1, 1975, she was ordered to abort the mission and return. The matter led to an investigation and command action. Commander Stevenson was relieved pending investigation, and on October 2, 1975, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral James L. Holloway III directed that a letter of admonition be issued. The record was later adjusted to remove the phrase "relieved for cause", and the fine associated with the matter was canceled.

After Commander Stevenson was removed pending investigation, Commander Ernest J. Toupin took command in August 1975. Commander David M. Heath assumed command in October 1975.

On September 30, 1977, USS FINBACK began an Atlantic transit for NATO exercises. During that period, she took part in Exercise Combined Effort, Exercise Urban Reclaim, and Exercise Ocean Safari. These exercises placed her again in the alliance operating environment of the North Atlantic and adjacent waters. Exercise Ocean Safari in particular belonged to the large-scale NATO maritime exercise tradition intended to test reinforcement, command and control, sea control, anti-submarine warfare, and allied coordination in areas that would have been essential in any major Cold War crisis.

In June 1978, USS FINBACK entered Newport News Shipbuilding for a scheduled refueling overhaul. This was one of the major material events of her career. A refueling overhaul was a large shipyard availability involving the nuclear propulsion plant and a broad package of repair, inspection, testing, and modernization work. The overhaul lasted until January 1981. After completion of the shipyard period, USS FINBACK sailed to the Bahamas for testing and post-overhaul evaluation. Public summaries also record port calls at Port Canaveral, Florida; Frederiksted on St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands; and St. Maarten during this return-to-service period.

After her refueling overhaul, USS FINBACK returned to Cold War operational service in the Atlantic Fleet. The early 1980s were a period of renewed maritime tension. The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in December 1979, continued Soviet naval activity in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean, instability in the Middle East, and American emphasis on forward maritime strategy all shaped the work of attack submarines. During this period, FINBACK continued to support the development and validation of submarine tactics and to operate as part of the Atlantic Fleet's attack-submarine force. Commander William R. Joa, one of the later commanding officers in this period, was followed by Commander Robert H. "Rocky" English, under whom USS FINBACK entered one of the most publicly recognized phases of her later Cold War service.

On September 2, 1984, USS FINBACK took part in a commemorative ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk marking the fortieth anniversary of the rescue of George H. W. Bush by the Second World War submarine USS FINBACK (SS 230). Vice President Bush and Mrs. Barbara Bush were aboard USS FINBACK for the ceremony. The event connected the nuclear-powered USS FINBACK with the wartime record of her predecessor and became one of the more visible public moments in the submarine's career.

During the mid-1980s, USS FINBACK's record includes a particularly active period under Commander English. Public deactivation remarks credit the submarine during that phase with four deployments, two Navy Unit Commendations, one Meritorious Unit Commendation, and two Battle Efficiency awards. Arctic records also associate USS FINBACK under Commander English with Arctic operations during this mid-1980s period. Arctic operations were technically demanding and strategically important. They required under-ice navigation, specialized sonar and ship-control procedures, careful communications planning, and surfacing knowledge, and they took place in a region central to Cold War submarine strategy because of the Soviet Northern Fleet and the operating routes beneath and near the polar ice.

In 1986, USS FINBACK received the Atlantic Fleet Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award. The award recognized high performance and readiness and was a notable public acknowledgment of the submarine's condition and effectiveness during this stage of her service.

In the later 1980s, USS FINBACK remained in active Atlantic Fleet service as the Cold War approached its final phase. Commander Michael G. Duncan and Commander Thomas C. Dion were among the commanding officers who followed Commander English.

On November 13, 1989, USS FINBACK suffered a fire while operating in the Atlantic. The fire forced the submarine to cut short sea trials and return to Norfolk. There were no injuries and damage was minor.

USS FINBACK's next major publicly documented deployment came during the Gulf War crisis. On January 4, 1991, she deployed to the Mediterranean. Eleven days later, on January 15, 1991, she arrived at Rota, Spain, to embark Commander Submarine Group Eight. Two days after that, on January 17, 1991, Operation Desert Storm began as the coalition air campaign opened against Iraqi forces after Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait. USS FINBACK's deployment placed her in the Mediterranean at a moment when the United States Navy was supporting coalition operations, maintaining command-and-control structures, and operating forces across the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and Persian Gulf regions. USS FINBACK played a role supporting Operation Desert Storm and received a Meritorious Unit Commendation for that deployment.

After the Gulf War, USS FINBACK remained active in the post-Cold-War Atlantic Fleet. The strategic environment had changed sharply: the Soviet Union dissolved on December 26, 1991, and the United States Navy's submarine force increasingly balanced traditional undersea surveillance and anti-submarine roles with regional crisis response, carrier and amphibious force support, precision-strike planning, sanctions enforcement, and post-Cold-War presence missions. On or about May 25, 1992, public imagery places USS FINBACK at anchor at Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela.

On February 13, 1994, a public Navy photograph places USS FINBACK tied up at Port Canaveral, Florida. During the early 1990s, USS FINBACK continued to serve as one of the older STURGEON-class submarines still available for fleet operations while newer LOS ANGELES-class boats increasingly formed the backbone of the attack-submarine force. Her continued employment reflected both the demand for nuclear-powered attack submarines and the value of experienced platforms in training, surveillance-related work, and deployed support. Commander Kevin R. Cheesebrough was among the later commanding officers before Commander Vernon Hutton III became the submarine's final commanding officer.

USS FINBACK's final major deployment came in 1995 and brought her again to the Mediterranean and the Adriatic. She almost immediately found herself in the Adriatic, supporting the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71) and USS AMERICA (CV 66) battle groups and strikes connected with Bosnia. Award records associate the Navy Unit Commendation period from April 5, 1995, to September 12, 1995, with support to the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT battle group and the USS KEARSARGE (LHD 3) amphibious ready group. These statements place USS FINBACK in the naval force structure supporting United States and NATO operations connected with the Bosnian conflict. During 1995, the Adriatic was a major operating area for Western naval forces supporting air operations, maritime presence, and crisis response related to the war in Bosnia.

On August 29, 1996, deactivation remarks were delivered for USS FINBACK, with Commander Hutton serving as her final commanding officer. This marked the beginning of the public end-of-service phase before formal decommissioning. By then, USS FINBACK had completed more than twenty-six years of commissioned service and had passed through the central phases of late-Cold-War and post-Cold-War attack-submarine employment: early Mk 48 torpedo evaluation, rescue-vehicle support configuration, North Atlantic and Mediterranean operations, Arctic work, Gulf War support, and Adriatic operations connected with Bosnia.

USS FINBACK's final decommissioning ceremony was held at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Washington, in March 1997. She was formally decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on March 28, 1997. Her disposal was carried out through the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, the standard process for dismantling retired nuclear-powered submarines, removing and disposing of reactor compartments under controlled procedures, and recycling the remaining hull structure. Recycling was completed on October 30, 1997.

Over her full career, USS FINBACK completed seven Mediterranean deployments and nine North Atlantic deployments, in addition to exercises in the Atlantic and Caribbean. Over her service life, she steamed more than three quarters of a million miles and received four Navy Unit Commendations and two Meritorious Unit Commendations.

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