USS Tullibee (SSN-597), a unique submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the tullibee, any of several whitefishes of central and northern North America.
At 273 feet long and 2,640 tons displacement, USS Tullibee was the smallest nuclear-powered attack submarine in the US submarine fleet, although she was originally designed mainly for the anti-submarine (ASW) 'hunter-killer' role and was redesignated an attack submarine when the two roles were merged. The initial manning complement was 7 officers and 60 enlisted men. However before inactivation, the crew included 13 officers and over 100 enlisted men.
During her career, Tullibee achieved much and conducted many submarine firsts. During her commissioned service she submerged and surfaced 730 times and traveled approximately equal to the distance from the Earth to the Moon and halfway back.
Construction
Tullibee was the result of Project Nobska, a study ordered in 1956 by Admiral Arleigh Burke, then Chief of Naval Operations, from the Committee on Undersea Warfare of the National Academy of Sciences. That report emphasized the need for deeper-diving, ultraquiet submarine designs using long-range sonar to accomplish the anti-submarine (ASW) 'hunter-killer' mission. Tullibee incorporated three design innovations inspired by Project Nobska. First, it incorporated the first bow-mounted spherical sonar array. This required the second innovation: angled torpedo tubes amidships. Thirdly, Tullibee was propelled by a very quiet turbo-electric transmission powered by a S2C reactor and producing 2,500 shp (~1,900 kW).
The contract to build Tullibee was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of the General Dynamics Corporation on 15 November 1957. Her keel was laid down in Groton, Connecticut, on 26 May 1958. She was launched on 27 April 1960, sponsored by Mrs. John F. Davidson, the widow of Commander Charles F. Brindupke, CO of when it was lost on 26 March 1944, and commissioned on 9 November 1960, with Commander Richard E. Jortberg in command.
While Tullibee was very successful from a technology perspective, she was not repeated on cost-effective grounds. Tullibees unexpected high cost of construction coupled with her intentionally inferior overall performance compared with the contemporary Thresher attack submarine convinced the Navy to abandon the specialized hunter-killer submarine concept and assign the hunter-killer role to the attack submarines. The Navy then attempted to scale up the Tullibee engineering plant to make it suitable for a full-sized attack submarine, but the result - the Glenard P. Lipscomb - was also judged to be not completely successful and was not repeated.
Operational history
1961–1968
Following her shakedown in January 1961, Tullibee engaged in sonar evaluations and nuclear submarine tactical exercises with Submarine Development Group 2, operating out of Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut, into 1963. During this period, the ship visited Bermuda on several occasions, as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico.
See also
Other submarines with features first seen in Tullibee
- and successors - spherical bow sonar, angled midship torpedo tubes
- - turbo-electric drive
Other submarines with unique silencing features
- - contra-rotating screws
- - natural circulation reactor, scoop seawater injection for the main condensers, direct drive turbine
- - turbo-electric drive