USS Skate (SSN-578)

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Skate with an ice pack behind her
History
United States
Name	USS Skate
Ordered	18 July 1955
Builder	Electric Boat
Laid down	21 July 1955[1]
Launched	16 May 1957[1]
Sponsored by	Mrs Lewis L. Strauss[1]
Commissioned	23 December 1957
Decommissioned	12 September 1986
Stricken	30 October 1986
Homeport	New London, Connecticut, Submarine Tender USS Fulton (AS-11)
Fate	Disposed of by submarine recycling 6 March 1995
General characteristics
Class and type	Skate-class submarine
Displacement	2,550 long tons (2,591 t) surfaced 2,848 long tons (2,894 t) submerged
Length	267 ft 7 in (81.56 m)
Beam	25 ft (7.6 m)
Propulsion	S3W reactor[2]
Speed	15.5 knots (17.8 mph; 28.7 km/h) surfaced 18 kn (21 mph; 33 km/h) submerged
Complement	8 officers and 76 men
Armament	8× 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes (6 forward, 2 aft)

USS Skate (SSN-578) was the third submarine of the United States Navy named for the skate, a type of ray, was the lead ship of the Skate class of nuclear submarines. She was the third nuclear submarine commissioned, the first to make a completely submerged trans-Atlantic crossing, the second submarine to reach the North Pole, and the first to surface there.