The USS Sailfish (SSR/SS/AGSS-572) was the lead vessel of her class of submarine in the United States Navy, named after the large tropical gamefish related to the swordfish. She was constructed at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, with her keel laid down on December 8, 1953. Launched on September 8, 1955, and sponsored by Mrs. Lynde D. McCormick, she was commissioned on April 14, 1956. Design-wise, Sailfish was notable as the first submarine built specifically for radar picket duties, equipped with BPS-2 and BPS-3 radars located both forward and aft of the sail. She and her sister ship Salmon were among the largest conventionally powered submarines in the U.S. Navy since 1928, designed for high surface speeds to scout ahead of carrier groups. Despite these design intentions, her actual speed was not significantly faster than converted WWII radar picket submarines. Throughout her service, Sailfish participated in multiple deployments, including her first Mediterranean cruise with Sixth Fleet in 1957, and subsequent NATO exercises, local operations, and training missions. In 1961, she was reclassified as an attack submarine (SS-572), marking the end of her radar picket role, which was replaced by airborne radar systems like the Grumman WF-2 Tracer. In 1965, she underwent an extensive "FRAM II" modernization at Philadelphia, gaining a sleeker appearance with new fins that housed the PUFFS sonar system, giving her the appearance of a large sailfish. She later operated with the Atlantic Fleet, then transitioned to the Pacific Fleet in 1971, based at Pearl Harbor. Her Pacific operations included multiple deployments to the Western Pacific, exercises with allied navies, and antisubmarine warfare missions. Decommissioned on September 29, 1978, Sailfish was later expended as a target in a 2007 Fleet Training SINKEX off the coast of Washington, where she was sunk by a Mark 48 ADCAP torpedo at a depth of over 8,700 feet. Her service history reflects her role as a pioneering radar picket and attack submarine during the Cold War era, contributing to naval surveillance and fleet defense strategies.

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