USS Seawolf (SSN 21)

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USS Seawolf (SSN 21) is the successor to two previous Seawolf-named subs. The first Seawolf (SS 197) was commissioned in 1939 and patrolled in the Pacific Ocean. It earned 13 battle stars during World War II, sank 17 enemy ships, and was lost in action in December 1944. The USS Seawolf (SSN 575) was the second ship, after USS Nautilus, to ever log it out with the historic phrase "underway on nuclear power". She was launched 21 July 1955 and was the first nuclear ship to transport the U.S. Commander in Chief when President Eisenhower rode the USS Seawolf on 26 September 1957.

The era of extended submerged operations by nuclear submarines was launched by USS Seawolf on a cruise from 7 August to 6 October 1958, when she remained submerged, totally independent of the surface and atmosphere for 60 days. USS Seawolf received the Navy Unit Commendation Award for this feat. USS Seawolf remained active in the fleet until decommissioned on 30 March 1987.

The latest Seawolf, SSN 21, is the fastest, quietest, most heavily armed nuclear-powered attack submarine in the world, commissioned 19 July 1997 at Electric Boat Shipyard in Groton, CT.

Today in WW II: 8 Feb 1940 Germans establish the first large Jewish ghetto in Poland in the city of Lodz. More ↓

8 Feb 1941 US House of Representatives passes the Lend-Lease Act [265 to 165].
8 Feb 1942 Battle of Sarimbun Beach begins, the first stage of the Japanese assault on Singapore.
8 Feb 1942 Japanese Offensive in Burma begins [8 Feb-2 May].
8 Feb 1945 Battle of the Reichswald: British and Canadian forces under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery begin Operation Veritable [8 Feb-11 Mar].
Visit the Olive-Drab.com World War II Timeline for day-by-day events 1939-1945! See also WW2 Books.