Follow the story of our intrepid 'Sardines' as she helps Japan's and that of her own country's ship girls fight their common enemy, the abyssals in the large waters of the great Pacific ocean, would they accept the new and unexpected arrival of a sh...
Radio Callsign: November - Delta - Uniform - Alpha
Class: Thresher/Permit Class Nuclear Attack Submarine
Personality: A semi-cheerful and a semi-serious young woman, she holds the submarine service of the United States Navy as one of the best in the world, she holds her class of submarines as the first and true modern nuclear powered submarines to enter full active service, she holds a bit of a regret in not being able to settle her score with the Soviet Submarine K-19 when she collided with her in the Barents sea, but since then she tried to move on from the incident, but the memory still lingers and she aims to soon settle her score with the Russian sub.
Historical Background: The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation on 9 July 1960 and her keel was laid down on 15 December 1961 at Groton, Connecticut. She was launched 14 May 1964 sponsored by Mrs. Lawson P. Ramage, and was commissioned 25 January 1968 under the command of CDR Albert Baciocco.
On 15 November 1969, Gato collided with the Soviet submarine K-19 in the Barents Sea at a depth of some 200 feet (61 m). The impact completely destroyed the K-19's bow sonar systems and mangled the covers of its forward torpedo tubes. K-19 returned to port for repair but the Gato was relatively undamaged and continued her patrol.
She was the first nuclear-powered submarine to completely circumnavigate South America, and the first nuclear-powered submarine to navigate the Strait of Magellan during its 1976 Unitas run under the command of CDR Robert Partlow. It was on this voyage that it became the first nuclear submarine to travel through the Panama Canal. Gato was decommissioned and stricken on 25 April 1996 and disposed of by submarine recycling.
