USS Richard B. Russell (SSN-687)
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| Career |
|---|
| Awarded: | 25 July 1969 |
| Laid down: | 19 October 1971 |
| Launched: | 12 January 1974 |
| Commissioned: | 16 August 1975 |
| Fate: | recycled |
| Stricken: | 24 June 1994 |
| General Characteristics |
|---|
| Displacement: | 4364 tons |
| Length: | 90.8 meters (298 feet) |
| Beam: | 31 feet 8 inches |
| Draft: | 26 feet |
| Speed: | 20+ knots |
| Complement: | 14 officers, 112 men |
| Armament: | four 21-inch torpedo tubes, SUBROC |
USS Richard B. Russell (SSN-687), a
Sturgeon-class submarine, was the only submarine of the
United States Navy to be named for Senator
Richard B. Russell. Her keel was laid down
19 October 1971 by the
Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company at
Newport News, Virginia authenticated by Mrs. Ina Russell Stacey, sister and official hostess for Senator Russell. She was
launched at Newport News
12 January 1974 sponsored by Mrs. Herman E. Talmadge, wife of Senator Herman E. Talmadge, and
commissioned on
16 August 1975.
In August 1977, Russell was fitted with a large housing attached to the hull just aft of the sail, containing a tethered antenna buoy that was under development. (Later submarine classes would have such housing built into the hull fairing.) The housing gave the boat a unique profile and became known as the "Russell Bustle."
- 19 years of operational history go here.
Richard B. Russell was placed in reserve, while still in commission, on
1 July 1993. She was both decommissioned and stricken from the
Naval Vessel Register on
24 June 1994, and stored in
Bremerton, Washington, until
1 October 2001, when she entered the Nuclear Powered
Ship and Submarine Recycling Program. On
19 September 2002, she ceased to exist.
References
This article includes information collected from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.