USS Skipjack (SSN-585) USS Skipjack (SSN-585) USS "Skipjack" (SSN-585), the lead ship of her class of nuclear-powered attack submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named after the Skipjack tuna. Her keel was laid down on 29 May 1956 by the Electric Boat Division of the General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 26 May 1958, sponsored by Helen Mahon, wife of Representative George H. Mahon from the 19th District of Texas, and commissioned on 15 April 1959 with Commander W. W. Behrens, Jr., in command. On the "Skipjack", there were many design changes that
Skipjack-class submarine the increased size of the "Thresher" and "Sturgeon" classes, which retained "Skipjack"s S5W power plant, plus the introduction of the "skewback" screw, which was quiet but mechanically inefficient. The "Skipjack"s saw service during the Vietnam War and most of the Cold War. The "Skipjack"-class submarines were withdrawn from service in the late 1980s and early 1990s except for , which sank on 5 June 1968 southwest of the Azores while returning from a Mediterranean deployment, with all 99 crewmembers lost. The gap in the hull-number sequence was taken by the two one-of-a-kind submarines and . Skipjack-class submarine The "Skipjack" class