USS Dolphin (AGSS-555)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Dolphin.

USS Dolphin (AGSS-555)
USS Dolphin
History
United States
NamesakeDolphin
Ordered10 August 1960
BuilderPortsmouth Naval Shipyard
Laid down9 November 1962
Launched8 June 1968
Sponsored byMrs. Maggie Shinobu Inouye
Commissioned17 August 1968
Decommissioned15 January 2007
Out of service22 September 2006
Stricken15 January 2007
StatusMuseum ship at the Maritime Museum of San Diego
Badge
General characteristics
Class and typeDolphin-class submarine
Displacement
  • 805 long tons (818 t) light
  • 861 long tons (875 t) full load
  • 56 long tons (57 t) dead
Length46.3 m (151 ft 11 in)
Beam6 m (19 ft 8 in)
Draft4.8 m (15 ft 9 in)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced
  • 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) submerged
  • (10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph), 3–4 knots (5.6–7.4 km/h; 3.5–4.6 mph) sustained[citation needed][clarification needed]
Endurance15 days
Test depth3,000 ft (910 m) (unclassified)
Capacity12 tons on external mounting pads, six port, six starboard, forward and aft of sail[clarification needed]
Complement3 officers, 20 ratings, 4 scientists[1]
ArmamentSmall arms. No internal torpedo tubes. An external tube could be mounted to be used for experiments.
Notesfitted with a 20-ton keel section to be jettisoned by explosive bolts for surfacing under emergency conditions[1]

USS Dolphin (AGSS-555) was a United States Navy diesel-electric deep-diving research and development submarine. She was commissioned in 1968 and decommissioned in 2007. Her 38-year career was the longest in history for a US Navy submarine to that point. She was the Navy's last operational conventionally powered submarine.[2]

  1. ^ a b c Lindsey, E.E. (September 1969), "USS DOLPHIN (AGSS-555) – The Navy's New Deep Diver", Naval Institute Proceedings, vol. 95, no. 9, pp. 138–141
  2. ^ Stillwell, Paul (February 2008). "The Last Diesel Boat". Naval History Magazine (February 2008).