USS Hawkbill (SSN-666)
USS Hawkbill (SSN-666), a Sturgeon-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the hawkbill, a large sea turtle. The contract to build her was awarded to the Mare Island Division of San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California on 18 December 1964 and her keel was laid down on 12 September 1966. She was launched on 12 April 1969 sponsored by Mrs. Bernard F. Roeder, and commissioned on 4 February 1971, with Commander Christopher H. Brown in command.
Hawkbill was sometimes called “The Devil Boat” or the Devilfish because of chapter 13 of the Revelation of Saint John the Divine, which begins “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea....” and ends “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six.”
- 28 years of history go here
Hawkbill was the last of the Sturgeons to be decommissioned. She entered the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program on 1 October 1999. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 March 2000 and ceased to exist on 1 December 2000. Her sail is exhibited in the Idaho Science Center in Arco, Idaho.
See USS Hawkbill for other ships of the same name.
References
This article includes information collected from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships and http://www.usshawkbill.com/
