Why Mare Island Never Built Another Submarine After the Guitarro (SSN-665)

[X Bubblehead]

I really enjoyed my time stationed at Mare Island and my first boat was built there. I heard rumors that Rickover had banned the yard from building nuclear-powered boats, but the old-timers who worked there were understandably reluctant to discuss any details. Here's the official version of what happened:

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/s/sinking-of-the-uss-guitarro.html

[wlambing]

Yes, the Guitarro was certainly a good training exercise forever after! Many ships safety training films, shipyard procedures, and other fun stuff! It also, sadly, suffered a wicked onboard battery well fire later in life that basically caused a hiccup in our ability to stem the Red Tide by "grounding" the 637 class for some very intense inspections! I heard that her original MK113 Fire Control system was used at SubScol in NLON, and that the instructors would just turn it on so the students could find and correct all its self-generated problems. They didn't have to install problems on their own! All of her lessons-learned are still in use today!

B