USS Blueback SS-581 (Portland, Oregon)

Title: USS Blueback SS-581 (Portland, Oregon)
LC Subject: Submarines (Ships)
Creator: United States. Navy Ingalls Shipbuilding
Creator Display: United States Navy (builder/contractor) Ingalls Ship Building (builder/contractor)
Description: National Register of Historic Places (Listed, 2009)
View: exterior: Port side, looking west
Provenance: University of Oregon Libraries
Temporal: 1950-1959
Work Type: memorials (structures) monuments museums (buildings) history museums (buildings) military museums (buildings) naval museums (buildings) vehicles (transportation) watercraft submarines plans (orthographic projections) plans, floor
Latitude: 45.5105941
Longitude: -122.6686981
Location: Portland >> Multnomah County >> Oregon >> United States Multnomah County >> Oregon >> United States Oregon >> United States United States
Street Address: 1495 Water Avenue, located on the east bank of the Willamette
Date: 1959
Identifier: OR_Multnomah_USSBlueback_0002.jpg
Rights: In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Rights Holder: Oregon State Historic Preservation Office
Source: Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/SHPO/
Type: Image
Format: image/jpeg
Set: Building Oregon
Primary Set: Building Oregon
Is Part Of: Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (Portland, Oregon)
Institution: University of Oregon
Citation: USS Blueback, National Register of Historic Places Nomination National Register of Historic Places, http://www.nps.gov/nr
Note: Commissioned in 1959, the USS Blueback (SS-581) is nationally significant for its engineering as the last surviving example of a Barbel Class submarine. Only consisting of three ships, the Barbell class combined proven WWII-era diesel-electric motor technology with a revolutionary tear-drop hull shape, high-strength steel, and other improvements that were incorporated into later submarine designs. The technological advance was driven by the transition in submarine warfare from the older Fleet Boat system to the modern nuclear-powered vessels of the Cold War. However, the Blueback and her sister ships were a transitional design. After independently studying nuclear power in the Nautilus test ship and the tear-drop hull shape with the Albacore test submarine and the active-duty Barbell Class, these technologies were later combined to create the modern nuclear submarines used by the U.S. Navy from the Cold War to the present. As the last diesel-electric submarine to join the US Navy and the last to be decommissioned, the Blueback represents an important transition in maritime technology and navel warfare. Source: Oregon State Historic Preservation Office. The USS Blueback was acquired by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland, Oregon, in February 1994. This submarine appeared in the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October before being towed to its present location, a pier right outside the museum. It was opened to the public on May 15, 1994. This image was included in the documentation to support a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Park Service. The image is provided here by the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office and the University of Oregon Libraries to facilitate scholarship, research, and teaching. For other uses, such as publication, contact the State Historic Preservation Office. Please credit the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office when using this image.