The ''Grayback''-class submarine was a class of two guided missile-carrying submarines of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. They carried the

Regulus I The SSM-N-8A Regulus or the Regulus I was a United States Navy-developed ship-and-submarine-launched, nuclear-capable turbojet-powered second generation cruise missile, deployed from 1955 to 1964. Its development was an outgrowth of U.S. Nav ...

and

Regulus II The SSM-N-9 Regulus II cruise missile is a supersonic guided missile armed with a nuclear warhead, intended for launching from surface ships and submarines of the U.S. Navy (USN).Koch, Charles A"Regulus II cruise missile".''Regulus II Cruise Miss ...

nuclear

cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhea ...

s, deployed 1957–64, that were rapidly phased out by

Polaris Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that ...

Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (

SLBM A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which carries a nuclear warhead ...

s). They and were the sole submarines designed specifically to carry Regulus missiles, and the only submarines capable of carrying Regulus II. However, and were modified earlier to carry two Regulus I missiles per boat.

Design

On the ''Grayback''s, two missile hangars allowed for a total of two Regulus II or four Regulus I missiles each. Since Regulus II was cancelled in December 1958 except for test firings, the class deployed with four Regulus I missiles. They were originally ordered as

sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

of , similar to the last s, but were converted under project SCB 161 to missile submarines during construction.Gardiner and Chumbley, pp. 609–610 Torpedo armament was the same as the ''Tang''s, with six bow and two stern tubes. The stern tubes were for "swim-out" weapons only, such as the Mark 37 ASW homing torpedo. In ''Graybacks later role as an amphibious transport submarine, the former missile hangars were used to store

SEAL Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

Swimmer Delivery Vehicle A diver propulsion vehicle (DPV), also known as an underwater propulsion vehicle, sea scooter, underwater scooter, or swimmer delivery vehicle (SDV) by armed forces, is an item of diving equipment used by scuba divers to increase range under ...

s and other equipment used by the SEALs and Marine

Force Recon Force Reconnaissance (FORECON) is one of the United States Marine Corps' special operations capable forces (SOC) which supplies military intelligence to the command element of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF). Force Reconnaissance compa ...

units.

Ships in class

* , launched 1957, served as a missile submarine 1958–1964, converted to an amphibious transport submarine (

hull classification symbol The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ...

LPSS) (initially transport submarine (APSS)) and served as such 1969–1984. Sunk as a target near

Subic Bay Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Sub ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, 13 April 1986. * , launched 1958, served 1958–1964. Museum ship at the

Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum The ''Intrepid'' Sea, Air & Space Museum is an American military and maritime history museum in New York City with a collection of museum ships. It is located at Pier 86 at 46th Street, along the Hudson River, in the Hell's Kitchen neighborh ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

from 29 September 1988.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * Jackson, Robert, ''Fighting Ships of The World'', London: Amber Books Ltd, 2004 Pg.314 * Gardiner, Robert and Chumbley, Stephen, ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995'', London: Conway Maritime Press, 1995. .

External links

NavSource.org Guided Missile Submarines photo gallery index
{{US submarine classes after 1945 Submarine classes Grayback class Grayback class