| General Characteristics: | Awarded: December 18, 1964 |
| Keel Laid: September 12, 1966 |
| Launched: April 12, 1969 |
| Commissioned: February 4, 1971 |
| Decommissioned: March 15, 2000 |
| Builder: Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, Calif. |
| Propulsion system: one S5W2 nuclear reactor |
| Propellers: one |
| Length: 292 feet (89 meters) |
| Beam: 31.7 feet (9.65 meters) |
| Draft: 29.2 feet (8.9 meters) |
| Displacement: Surfaced: approx. 4,250 tons |
| Displacement: Submerged: approx. 4,700 tons |
| Speed: Surfaced: approx. 15 knots |
| Speed: Submerged: approx. 30 knots |
| Armament: four 533 mm torpedo tubes for Mk-48 torpedoes, Harpoon, Tomahawk, and SUBROC missiles, ability to lay mines |
| Crew: 12 Officers, 95 Enlisted |
| Date | Where | Events |
|---|
| June 20, 1979 | off Hawaii | The USS HAWKBILL reactor's primary coolant system develops a leak while the submarine is on maneuvers in Hawaiian waters which last for four days. Originally, the leak was about two gallons an hour, but by the time the submarine docks at Pearl Harbor, HI, on June 23, the leak has been reduced to three-quarts an hour. On June 24 it is stopped. The Navy says none of the water escaped, as it was captured and stored in tanks designed for such contingencies and that none of the crew was in danger. Supplemental coolant water was pumped in to prevent overheating. According to the Navy, "the leakage was caused by normal wear of inside parts of valves. Such leaks happen occasionally." |
| December 3, 1980 | Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash. | During a test, about 150 gallons of low-level radioactive water leak from a faulty valve on the USS HAWKBILL undergoing overhaul at the PSNY. Five workers receive low-level radioactive contamination. A Navy spokesman says they received a dose of radiation "less than that typically received by a chest X-ray." |
General Characteristics 
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