USS Glenard P. Lipscomb (SSN-685)

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Career
Awarded:	16 December 1968
Laid down:	5 June 1971
Launched:	4 August 1973
Commissioned:	21 December 1974
Fate:	submarine recycling
Stricken:	11 July 1990
General Characteristics
Displacement:	5813 tons surfaced, 6480 tons submerged
Length:	365 feet
Beam:	32 feet
Draft:
Powerplant:	S5W reactor
Speed:	18 knots surfaced, 23 knots submerged
Depth:	1300 feet
Complement:	12 officers, 109 enlisted
Armament:	four 21-inch torpedo tubes

USS Glenard P. Lipscomb (SSN-685), a unique submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for that Congressman. She was the US Navy's second design using a turbo-electric power plant similar to USS Tullibee. While this design is quieter, it is heavier and larger than conventional drive trains. Those disadvantages, along with reliability issues, led to the decision not to use this design for the follow-on Los Angeles-class of submarines. Other than the engine room, Lipscomb was generally similar to the Sturgeon-class, and was a fully combat-capable attack submarine.

Construction of Lipscomb began on 5 June 1971 at the Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, Connecticut. She was launched 4 August 1973, sponsored by Mrs. Glenard P. Lipscomb, and was commissioned on 21 December 1974 with Commander James F. Caldwell in command. She was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 11 July 1990 and disposed of by submarine recycling at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on 1 December 1997.

References

This article includes information collected from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.