Ssn-615 Uss Gato

USS Gato (SSN-615)
History
United States
Name	USS Gato
Namesake	The gato, a species of small catshark
Ordered	9 July 1960
Builder	General Dynamics Electric Boat
Laid down	15 December 1961
Launched	14 May 1964
Sponsored by	Mrs. Lawson P. Ramage
Commissioned	25 January 1968
Decommissioned	25 April 1996
Nickname(s)	'The Goal Keeper" "The Black Cat"
Fate	Disposed of via Ship-Submarine Recycling Program
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General characteristics
Class and type	Thresher/Permit-class nuclear submarine
Displacement	3964 tons light, 4242 tons full,   278 tons dead
Length	292 ft (89 m)
Beam	32 ft (9.8 m)
Draft	28 ft (8.5 m)
Propulsion	S5W reactor with S3G-3 Core, two steam turbines with reduction-geared single shaft
Complement	12 officers, 115 men
Armament	4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes amidships, MK-37 and MK-48 torpedoes, MK-67 SLMM, UGM-84 Harpoon cruise missiles, SUBROC short-range ballistic missile

The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation on 9 July 1960 and her keel was laid down on 15 December 1961 at Groton, Connecticut. She was launched 14 May 1964 sponsored by Mrs. Lawson P. Ramage, and was commissioned 25 January 1968 under the command of CDR Albert Baciocco.

On 15 November 1969, Gato collided with the Soviet submarine K-19 in the Barents Sea at a depth of some 200 feet (61 m). The impact completely destroyed the K-19's bow sonar systems and mangled the covers of its forward torpedo tubes. K-19 returned to port for repair but the Gato was relatively undamaged and continued her patrol.

She was the first nuclear-powered submarine to completely circumnavigate South America, and the first nuclear-powered submarine to navigate the Strait of Magellan during its 1976 Unitas run under the command of CDR Robert Partlow. It was on this voyage that it became the first nuclear submarine to travel through the Panama Canal.

Gato was decommissioned and stricken on 25 April 1996 and disposed of by submarine recycling.