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 planes were moved to the massive sail to cut down on flow-induced noise near the bow sonar arrays. They were known as sail planes or fairwater planes. The "Skipjack"s were the first class built with sail planes; they were later backfitted on the "Barbel"s. This design feature would be repeated on all U.S. nuclear submarines until the improved , the first of which was launched in 1988. The small "turtleback" behind the sail was the exhaust piping of the auxiliary diesel generator. The "Skipjack"s also introduced the S5W reactor to U.S. nuclear submarines. It was known as ASFR (Advanced Submarine