>From the “Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships,” 

(1976) Vol. 6, pp.413-414.





SEAHORSE



		Seahorse:  A small fish whose head and upper body 

suggest the head and neck of a horse.





SSN-669



Displacement:  

	Surfaced:  3,640 t.

	Submerged:  4,640 t.

Length:  292’3”

Beam:  31’8”

Draft:  28’9”

Speed:  20+ k.

Complement:  107

Armament:  4 21” torpedo tubes; SUBROC

Class:  STURGEON



	The second SEAHORSE (SSN-669) was laid down on 

13 August 1966 by General Dynamics Corp., Electric Boat 

Division, Groton, Conn.; launched on 15 June 1968; sponsored 

by Mrs. Paul R. Ignatius, wife of the Secretary of the Navy, 

and commissioned on 19 September 1969, Comdr. George T. 

Harper, Jr., in command.



	Following a Caribbean shakedown cruise and visits to 

Roosevelt Roads and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Frederiksted, 

St. Croix, SEAHORSE returned to her home port, Charleston, 

S.C.  For the remainder of 1969 and through November 1970, 

the submarine operated in the Atlantic and Caribbean areas, 

engaging in local operations and conducting type training.



	On 30 November, SEAHORSE got underway from Charleston 

on her first major deployment, in which she operated in the 

Atlantic and visited Bremerhaven, Germany, before returning 

to Charleston on 14 February 1971.  For the next four 

months, SEAHORSE conducted type training, engaged in air 

group operations and made final preparations for an extended 

Mediterranean deployment.  Departing Charleston on 21 June, 

she arrived at Rota, Spain, on 2 July and continued to 

operate in the Mediterranean Sea until 4 October when she 

headed back to Charleston.  She remained in Charleston for 

the next three and one-half months.



	On 9 February 1972, SEAHORSE set sail for a north 

Atlantic deployment, visiting Faslane, Scotland, before 

returning to Charleston on 11 May.  During the months of 

June, July, and August, she spent four weeks at sea in the 

Atlantic providing services for air groups and participating 

in destroyer operations.  In September, SEAHORSE departed 

for the North Atlantic to participate in NATO Exercise 

"Strong Express," followed by exercises with Great Britain 

and Canada in October and with the Royal Netherlands Navy in 

November.  The submarine returned to Charleston on 

5 November, where she continued to operate into 1974.



	[Decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel 

Register on 25 August 1995, SEAHORSE entered the Navy’s 

Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at 

Bremerton, Washington on 1 March 1995.  When she finished 

the program on 30 September 1996, she ceased to exist as a 

complete ship and was listed as scrapped.



Internet web site:

	United States Naval & Shipbuilding Museum

		www.uss-salem.org/worldnav/usa/decom.htm





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com