USS Gurnard (SSN-662)

USS Gurnard (SSN-662), a Sturgeon-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the gurnard, a food fish of the genus Trigla and part of the sea robin family.

Construction and commissioning
The contract to build Gurnard was awarded to Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Vallejo, California, on 24 October 1963, and her keel was laid down there on 22 December 1964. She was launched on 20 May 1967, sponsored by Mrs. George P. Miller, and commissioned on 6 December 1968 with Commander William S. Cole, Jr., in command.

Service history
Gurnard operated in the Arctic Ocean under the polar ice cap from September to November 1984 in company with one of her sister ships, the attack submarine USS Pintado (SSN-672). On 12 November 1984 Gurnard and Pintado became the third pair of submarines to surface together at the North Pole.

Decommissioning and disposal
Gurnard was decommissioned on 28 April 1995 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day. Her scrapping via the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, was completed on 15 October 1997.