USS Tunny (SSN-682)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

USS Tunny (SSN-682) was a Sturgeon-class attack submarine of the United States Navy, the second ship to be named after the tunny fish. The contract for Tunny was awarded on June 25, 1968. The keel was laid on May 22, 1970 at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was launched on June 10, 1972, sponsored by Mrs. Lola Aiken, and commissioned on January 26, 1974 in Charleston, South Carolina.

After initial training in Charleston and Groton, Connecticut, Tunny conducted West Indies and East Coast shakedown operations in 1974. She deployed to the Mediterranean in 1975 with the Sixth Fleet for antisubmarine warfare exercises, returning to Charleston in August 1975. Through 1976 and 1977 she conducted training and operations along the U.S. East Coast, with repairs and alterations at Norfolk in late 1977.

In 1978 Tunny’s home port was changed to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. She moved there by way of the Panama Canal and arrived on August 19, 1978. In early 1979 she deployed to the Western Pacific, visiting ports in Thailand and Guam, and making a stop at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. She also visited Australia and took part in ANZAC Day activities with Royal Australian Navy personnel. Tunny returned to Pearl Harbor in June 1979 for further operations.

Tunny was deactivated while still in commission on October 1, 1997, and was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on March 13, 1998. Scrapping under the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program began on October 1, 1997 and was completed on October 27, 1998.

General characteristics:
- Class and type: Sturgeon-class attack submarine
- Displacement: about 4,460 long tons surfaced, 4,960 long tons submerged
- Length: 302 feet; Beam: 31.7 feet; Draft: 29.2 feet
- Propulsion: S5W2 nuclear reactor, 30,400 shp, one shaft; steam (600 psi)
- Speed: ~15 knots surfaced, ~30 knots submerged
- Test depth: around 1,300 feet
- Complement: about 110
- Armament: four 21-inch torpedo tubes with Mark 48 torpedoes; Harpoon missiles; Tomahawk cruise missiles; UUM-44A SUBROC missiles; naval mines
- Motto: Illegitimi non carborundum