Narwhal III SS(N)-671

Narwal III
(SS (N )-671: dp.3,800 (surf.),4,600 (subm.); 1.292'3" ; b.31'8" ; dr. 2D'; cpl. 107; a. 4 21" TT., SUBROC; cl. Sturgeon)

The third Narwhal was laid down 17 January 1966 by General Dynamics Corp., Groton, Conn., Iaunched 9 September 1967, sponsored by Mrs. Glynn R. Donaho, and commissioned 12 July 1969, with Comdr. W. A. Matson, in command.

Narwhal  went to sea with a new type of reactor that enabled her to steam longer and further than any other submarine in existence, that power plant considerably reducing the noise level of the boat  and making her the the quietest submarine in the U.S. Naval service at the time of her commissioning.  During her 17 deployments over the next three decades,  Narwhal received the Navy Unit Commendation (1972), four Meritorious Unit Commendations, five Battle Efficiency “E” awards, one Navy Expeditionary Medal, two Armed Forces Service Medals, and one Secretary of the Navy Letter of Commendation.

Inactivated on 16 January 1999, Narwhal was simultaneously decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 July 1999. Efforts to obtain the vessel to serve as the centerpiece of a planned National Submarine Science Discovery Center (NSSDC) in Newport, Ky., resulted in legislation, signed on 30 September 2003, that enabled the Secretary of the Navy to transfer her to the NSSDC, but insufficient funds, however, caused the cancellation of the project in 2006.