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
USS Skipjack (SS-184) a "down the throat" spread of three torpedoes that sank the "Kanan Maru" (). Two days later, the submarine intercepted a three-ship convoy escorted by a destroyer and she fired two torpedoes that severely damaged the merchant ship, "Taiyu Maru" (). Then she let go with four more that quickly sank the cargo ship, "Bujun Maru" (). On 17 May, "Skipjack" sank the passenger-cargo ship "Tazan Maru" () off Indochina before heading back to Fremantle. Following participation in performance tests for the Mark 14 torpedo, "Skipjack" sailed for her fourth war patrol on 18 July 1942, conducted along the northwest