USS Plunger (SSN-595)

History
United States
Name	USS Plunger
Ordered	23 March 1959
Builder	Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California
Laid down	2 March 1960
Launched	9 December 1961
Commissioned	21 November 1962
Decommissioned	2 February 1990
Stricken	2 February 1990
Fate	Entered Ship-Submarine Recycling Program, 5 January 1995
General characteristics
Class and type	Thresher/Permit-class submarine
Displacement	3,540 long tons (3,597 t) light 3,700 long tons (3,759 t) surfaced 4,300 long tons (4,369 t) submerged
Length	278 ft 5 in (84.86 m)
Beam	31 ft 8 in (9.65 m)
Propulsion	1 S5W PWR
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)+
Complement	100 officers and men
Armament	4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes

USS Plunger (SSN-595), a Permit-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named "plunger", meaning a diver or a daring gambler.

The contract to build her as a guided-missile submarine (SSGN) was awarded to Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 23 March 1959, but by the time her keel was laid down on 2 March 1960 she had been redesigned as an attack submarine (SSN). She was launched on 9 December 1961 (sponsored by Mrs. Clinton P. Anderson), and commissioned on 21 November 1962.