USS Tinosa (SSN-606)

USS "Tinosa" (SSN-606), a "Permit"-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the tinosa, a poisonous, black, tropical fish.

History

The contract to build her was awarded to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine on 17 December 1958 and her keel was laid down on 24 November 1959. She was launched on 9 December 1961 sponsored by Mrs. Samuel B. Stratton, the wife of Congressman Samuel B. Stratton of New York, and commissioned on 17 October 1964, with Commander Robert B. Brumsted in command.

Following shakedown out of New London, Connecticut, the submarine underwent availability at her builder's yard from April to June 1966 before making a cruise to Faslane, Scotland, and the Caribbean Sea. After an overhaul which lasted from March through June 1967, the ship provided services for the Naval Underwater Sound Laboratory at New London through the first three months of 1968. During this tour, "Tinosa" was based briefly at Port Everglades, Florida, as well as at New London and visited Bermuda in the course of her operations. At the end of this experimental and test duty, "Tinosa" began local operations out of New London.

"Tinosa" continued to work off the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean into 1969. During her major overhaul in the spring of that year, she received the SUBSAFE submarine safety improvements designed in the wake of the tragic loss of submarine "Thresher" (SSN-593) in April 1963.

Following the completion of this yard period, "Tinosa" resumed active operations off the eastern seaboard and into the familiar waters of the Caribbean Sea and continued the routine into the middle of 1971. In July, she crossed the Atlantic for visits to ports in northern Europe and for deployment in the Mediterranean Sea with the Sixth Fleet. After operating out of Sardinia and Holy Loch during this period, she returned home in December to conduct tests in conjunction with a project sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"Tinosa" worked out of New London from 1 February 1973 until the end of March, operating with submarines and surface craft on exercises and maneuvers. After a three-day visit to the United States Naval Academy in late April, where she served in a familiarization program for midshipmen, "Tinosa" underwent a tender availability alongside "Fulton" (AS-11) at New London. In ensuing months, the submarine was twice deployed to Bermuda and operated off Andros Island before participating in joint United States-Canadian antisubmarine warfare exercises in December off the Florida coast.

After being dry-docked in "Waterford" (ARD-5) at New London from January to March 1974, "Tinosa" departed her home port on 19 May, bound for the Mediterranean, and conducted her second deployment with the Sixth Fleet through the summer months. She visited Bizerte from 24 June to 1 July and was the first nuclear powered submarine to visit Tunisia.

Returning to New London on 16 November, the ship operated locally out of her homeport into late February 1975. Subsequently operating in the Narragansett Bay area into the spring of that year, "Tinosa" departed New London on 23 July, bound for Charleston, South Carolina. She later shifted south to operate off the Florida coast. The ship underwent a major overhaul at the Ingalls Shipbuilding yard at Pascagoula, Mississippi, from late 1975 to 12 December 1977. She then resumed operations with the Atlantic Fleet commencing with two months of weapons system testing in the Caribbean from 13 February to 20 May 1978. This was followed by a combined exercise with units of the Royal Canadian Navy off Florida in mid-April. Most of the summer was spent in preparing for "Tinosa"’s forthcoming deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. On 13 September, she departed New London for five months of operations with the Sixth Fleet. At the end of 1978, the nuclear attack submarine was in upkeep in La Maddalena, Sardinia, following operations with a NATO task force composed of United States, British, Italian, and Turkish naval units.

"Tinosa" was deactivated while still in commission on 15 July 1991, then decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 January 1992. ex-"Tinosa" entered the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program in Bremerton, Washington, on 15 July 1991 and on 26 June 1992 ceased to exist.

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