The USS Growler (SSG-577) was a notable vessel in the United States Navy, serving as an early nuclear-capable cruise missile submarine. Built at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, she was laid down on February 15, 1955, launched on April 5, 1958, and commissioned on August 30, 1958, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Charles Priest, Jr. Growler was the second and final submarine of the Grayback class, and her design was an experimental attempt to deploy nuclear armament on a conventional diesel-electric platform. Constructed primarily to carry the Regulus I cruise missile, Growler’s mission was to serve as a nuclear deterrent off the Pacific coast of the Soviet Union during the Cold War’s peak years, from 1958 to 1964. Her operational history includes training exercises along the East Coast, a shakedown cruise at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico, and subsequent deployment to the Pacific. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on September 7, 1959, where she served as the flagship of Submarine Division 12, participating in various exercises and missile testing. Growler’s most significant contribution was her participation in the first deterrent patrols conducted by the U.S. Navy’s submarine fleet armed with nuclear missiles. From March 12 to May 17, 1960, she undertook her first patrol, armed with nuclear-regulus missiles, operating covertly for over two months. She completed a total of nine deterrent patrols between 1960 and 1963, with notable patrols including a mission that terminated in Yokosuka, Japan, in April 1962. Decommissioned on May 25, 1964, Growler was placed in reserve and later stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in 1980. She was initially slated for use as a torpedo target but was eventually preserved as a museum ship. In 1988, she was transferred to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City, where she opened to the public in 2009. Today, USS Growler remains the only nuclear missile submarine accessible to visitors in the United States, serving as a significant relic of Cold War naval history.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.