About 637 Class Submarines

A photo of the front end of torpedo mounted on the 651's sail.

Another photo of the front end of torpedo mounted on the 651's sail.

From 1967 to 1969 the Queenfish tested a Mark 47 torpedo sonar unit. It looked like a torpedo sticking out of the sail. I'm sure no other 637 class boat looked like this. It drew a lot double takes though.

These photos show the major changes in the starboard sail details over time. The port side is similar, except, there is no Diesel exhaust, floating wire port, or grill.

1966

1985

This is the 651 sail as-built, at commissioning. Note the ladder rungs and the grill on the lower left or after bottom of the sail. The top of the fair water shows two colors because the center portion has a non-slip coating. The same is true for the main deck area. Click on the photo for a larger view.
The black rectangle midway down on the front of the sail (right in photo) is a forward looking sonar array. The slotted area on the upper rear corner of the sail is for the Diesel generator exhaust. The port above it is for the floating wire antenna.

In this photo taken in 1985, by Mike Mansfield, while 651 was in New Zealand, shows the new style ladder rungs. You will notice that the grill is no longer there. You also can see four new access covers. These replace four very heavy access plates.
Removing these plates was very dangerous and difficult. This webmaster broke a toe when one slipped out of position and landed on my foot, while I was re-installing it. The old plates are not visible in the photo on the left. Click on the photo for a larger view.

Since I brought up the ladder rung problem on the previous page, In thought I'd give you more detail. The old ladder rungs were of 1/4 inch steel and flat. They extended from the bridge to the fairwater planes, on both sides of the ship.. When lookouts were needed on the fairwater planes, or you needed bridge access in port, the only way was via the Control Room. Once the rungs were remove the only access to the planes was with a steel "Jacobs Ladder". Heavy and awkward at best.
The new ladder, with tubular design rungs, not only solved the noise problem, but, because the ladders extended to the deck, bridge and plane access was a piece of cake. Click on the photo for a larger view.
This photo is also from Mike Mansfield (in photo.)

A view of the floating wire shroud and ladder rungs on SSN 651 in 1985

The last major change in external appearance of the Sturgeons was the addition of the towed sonar array shroud, which runs down the port side of the sail all the way aft to the port stabilizer on the stern planes. This is partially visible in the photo above, and in the photo of USS Ray (SSN 653) below. The Ray is a sister ship of Queenfish and was built alongside the 651 at Newport News, VA.

This photo of USS Ray (SSN 653) at the deactivation ceremony in 1993,
is from the "USS Ray" Web site, used by Permission of Don Shelton.
Photo provided by OD "Coyote" Carlson STCM(SS) USN (ret), Plank Owner USS Ray