Description

USS Tautog SSN-639 Submarine Model

Sail again with the crew of the USS Tautog SSN-639 in this handcrafted wooden submarine model. Each piece is carved from wood and handpainted to provide a piece you’ll love.

• Length – 20 inches
• Made from Mahogany
• US Veteran Owned Business
• The product is not intended to be used by children 12 years and younger.

USS Tautog (SSN-639), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the Tautog (Tautoga Onitis), a wrasse commonly found along the Northern Atlantic coast. The submarine was in service from 17 August 1968 to 31 March 1997.

Construction and commissioning

SSN-639 New Construction

Tautog Commissioning
The contract to build Tautog was awarded to Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on 30 November 1961 and her keel was laid down there on 27 January 1964. She was commissioned on 15 March 1967, sponsored by Pauline Lafon Gore, wife of United States Senator Albert Gore, Sr. (1907–1998) of Tennessee. Under sunny skies, a crowd of thousands watched as Mrs. Gore took a hearty swing with a bottle of champagne and intoned the memorial words, “In the name of the United States of America, I christen thee Tautog.” Tautog was commissioned 17 August 1968 under the command of Commander Buele G. Balderston.

Service history
1968–1970
On 30 August 1968, Tautog departed Pascagoula on her way to join the United States Pacific Fleet. She transited the Panama Canal on 8 September 1968 and arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 23 September 1968. There, she joined Submarine Squadron 12, serving as its flagship. Throughout 1969, Tautog completed her post-commissioning tests and sea trials, followed by her shakedown training cruise. She conducted the majority of these operations in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands, although in January and February 1969 she berthed in Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Washington, for trials and repairs. She completed her shakedown training in September 1969 and, on 15 September 1969, began post-shakedown repairs and alterations which were protracted by the necessity of replacing her entire diesel generator. Tautog’s repairs finally were completed on 19 February 1970, and she began normal operations out of Pearl Harbor, involving torpedo and sonar tracking exercises,culminating in Tautog earning the Battle Efficiency “E” in 1970 for outstanding performance.[2] Tautog received a Navy Unit Commendation for service on or about 1 June 1969.According to Drew, 2008, Tautog monitored a test of new cruise missiles launched from an Echo II class Soviet submarine in the summer of 1969.

Tautog sailed with the Seventh Fleet (Western Pacific, or WESTPAC) in 1970, making port calls in the Philippines, Hong Kong, Okinawa, Japan and Korea.Upon return to Pearl Harbor, Tautog was presented the Meritorious Unit Commendation for operations conducted during that deployment, 1 October 1970 to 1 April 1971.