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The Submarine Hall of Fame Class of 2016 Nomination Letter

Hall of Fame Nomination

For SS 320:

1. The keel was laid on the 13th of May, 1943 (The 13th)

2. She was commissioned on June 12th, 1944, 13 months after the keel was laid.

3. She arrived at her new home port of Pearl Harbor on August 13th, 1944. (The 13th)

4. On October 13th, 1944, Bergall sinks a 4,182 ton medium cargo ship, the Shinshu Maru, in Cam Rahn Bay). This was her first credited sinking. (THE 13th).

5. On December 13th, 1944, while on her second war patrol, the Bergall damaged the Heavy Cruiser IJN Myoko on its way from Singapore to Cam Ranh Bay. USS Bergall was damaged from a 5-inch enemy shell from the Destroyer IJN Ushio that went through her forward torpedo loading hatch and blew a large hold through the starboard side of her pressure hull. The Bergall was able to limp home on the surface. (THE 13th).

6. On February 13th, 1945, BERGALL chased a Japanese task force and fired six torpedoes, with unknown results. Subsequently, a Japanese destroyer bombarded BERGALL with 85 depth charges while she hugged the bottom. (THE 13th)

7. On June 13th, 1945, during the early part of her fifth war patrol the Bergall hit a mine. One of her crew members, Carl Weber, would later recall, "It was close aboard and knocked our after tubes out of alignment and messed up the screws. We made a lot of noise. We were on the surface in the Gulf of Siam in shallow water looking for anything and it was probably a mine controlled from the shore. I was copying "FOX" at the time and when the mine went off, my chair jumped about six inches off the deck, the TBL went on and all I could think of was that I missed some of a message. We got back to Subic and Gunner Han, the COB, he was GM1, came back from a mail run with 5 gals. of "gilley" and when the sun went down we had a party onboard." (THE 13th)

1. She was commissioned on Friday the 13th, in June of 1969

5. SSN 667 was the first boat with AN/BQS-13 Sonar. They got to do the unit validation. An unidentified crew member recalled: "There was a lot of joking between the Crew, and the tech reps. One of the questions frequently asked at watch changes was ‘who is ahead, Monkeys or Footballs?’ We drove in so many circles at so many depths we started to think we were wheels."

6. Completed sea trials following refueling overhaul on June 13th, 1988. (The 13th)

The USS Bergall (SSN 667) was a nuclear-powered attack submarine of the STURGEON Class, especially designed as an anti-submarine weapon. Her keel was laid on 4 April 1966 and she was launched 17 February 1968. After completion of her sea trials she was commissioned on 13 June 1969 under the command of CDR Bill Tally, and with the guidance of TMCS(SS) Ed Gibbons, who had also served on the ship’s namesake, USS Bergall (SS 320). In order to "match" the first Bergall’s Commissioning date, an ex-Bergall skipper, LCDR Phil Glennon, as the program planner, managed to get some missing engine room equipment "liberated" from a boat nearing completion in Portsmouth. With that, she became the 84th nuclear submarine to enter the Fleet and the 43rd attack type. Her assignment upon commissioning was to Submarine Development Group Two in Groton, Connecticut. This assignment was to fully test the Navy's newest all-purpose sonar, the AN/BQS-13.

As is alluded to above a top priority for the Navy at the time was to counter the anticipated noise quieting program of the part of Soviet submarines. This was perceived to be a national priority since SSBN's were known to be patrolling off the Atlantic coast where response times to an ICBM attack would be minimal.

In 1970, still with Captain Tally, Bergall became the first submarine to undergo the MK-48 torpedo conversion and in 1971 she was the first ship to carry the MK-48 torpedo in its operational warshot configuration. The AN/BQQ-5 digital sonar system was temporarily installed for test and evaluation in

"It was an active sonar called JT Sonar which was developed by IBM. The system would emit whale calls and tried to interpret the return echoes; however, the Bergall had many conversations with the whales. This mission was at the request of the Underwater Sound Lab. Another piece of equipment that was placed on the Bergall was an aircraft navigation system. It was about the size of a TV satellite receiver and mounted in the overhead in control by the Sins gyros. Just to see the weight savings was awesome; however, it too did not provide the results expected. On every trip, the nav system was synced to pier 17 in New London, and three or four days later, the Bergall seemed to always be somewhere in Kansas. The ship's speed was too slow to have accurate locations."

Bergall was awarded her first Navy Unit Commendation that year for the period of June 13th 1969 to May 31, 1972 for her performance in the testing of the sonar systems and outstanding MK-48 torpedo proficiency. The award cited 1084 days of meritorious service.

In 1973, Captain Tally relinquished command to CDR Ray Wyatt. That year, Bergall saw her first two extended deployments. Both were rigorous independent operations of great importance to the United States. Upon the completion of her first deployment Bergall was awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal for her contribution to the National Defense. After returning from her second deployment the ship conducted a 52 week non-refueling overhaul in Groton, CT., ending in early 1975, which included outfitting to be a DSRV mothership. To end 1975 Bergall completed an 11 week Northern European deployment that included participation in a major NATO exercise, Operation OCEAN SAFARI.

1978 was a banner year for Bergall. Under Captain Smith’s command, she participated in a targeting exercise for the HARPOON missile system, exercise SOLID SHIELD, and successfully sank the ex-USS SEA LION in SINKEX 1-78. Bergall went into NNSY in ’78 with Mk 113 Analog FC and BQS-13 sonar and out in late ’79 with AN/BQQ-5 sonar coupled to AN/MK-17 FC, and a new #2 scope that was apparently the pride (or envy) of CSS 6. Bergall was also the first SSN to be backfit with the WLQ-4 Sea Nymph ESM system, and the first to do the testing and deploy with it. Continuing her history of superior performance, Bergall also had the distinction of being the first east -coast submarine to carry a Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV). The year culminated in a change of homeport to Norfolk, VA and Submarine Squadron SIX and the commencement of her second non-refueling overhaul which lasted 13 months. (Another significant 13)

In 1980 Bergall conducted a five month deployment to the North Atlantic. Leaving Norfolk in September she went on back-to-back northern runs, spending several weeks in and out of Holy Loch, then going upstream to Faslane. The boat returned in February 1981, spending several days in Halifax on the return trip home, and conducting a Change of Command to CDR Steven Mladineo. She was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation for the period September 12, 1980 to January 26th, 1981 (137 days of meritorious service).

Upon completion of various exercises including OCEAN VENTURE and COMPUTEX 1-82. Bergall was awarded another Meritorious Unit Commendation for the period April 20th, 1981 to May 11th, 1981. This being such a short period of time to earn another MUC so quickly (22 days to be exact), you can only imagine the type of operations she must have been involved in. She was also awarded the Commander Submarine Squadron SIX Operations White "A" in early 1982.

During 1982 Bergall completed a five month Mediterranean deployment, participating in exercise DISPLAY DETERMINATION where she was awarded yet another Meritorious Unit Commendation for the period of July 24th, 1982 to December 1st, 1982 (131 days of meritorious service). She also won the Commander Sixth Fleet Hook em' Award that year for Anti-Submarine Excellence, so those of us who are experienced Cold War Submariners can imagine what was going on for those few months.

1983 saw a stint down in Florida waters and a three month deployment to the North Atlantic after which the ship was awarded the Red "DC" for Damage Control Excellence in Submarine Squadron SIX.

The submarine USS Bergall, SSN-667, quietly slipped her moorings late February or early March 1988. Little did the citizens of nearby Vallejo, California, know that a landmark event was being added to the long and proud history of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard: Diane Nelson, a weapons electronics mechanic, was about to become the first woman to participate in a sea trial on this small, cramped attack-class submarine. Later, Communications Electronic Mechanic Lita Pangelinan, would be the second woman to test the submarine at sea. Once again, Mare Island made her mark in the history books. The Bergall returned to Norfolk on June 13, 1988... just another "13" in the Bergall tradition. Somewhere during all of this, they found time to have another Change of Command, and the crew was introduced to CDR "Smilin’ Mike" Riordan.

In March of 1991, Smilin’ Mike turned command of Bergall over to CDR Wilhelm "Butch" Hansen. Under Captain Hansen, we made multiple "Northern Runs" and participated in "local ops" and upkeep periods during his first year. Bergall was awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal for the period October 1, 1991 to September 30, 1992, for various operations in that 366 day period. Part of that included deploying early in 1992 to the "Western Atlantic" (quotation marks emphasized), which culminated with the award of another Meritorious Unit Commendation for the period January 1, 1992 to April 30, 1992.

In October 1992, Bergall again deployed to the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, returning in April of 1993 from what was deemed a "highly successful deployment". Bergall was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for the period October 1, 1992 to March 1, 1993, COMSUBRON SIX Battle Efficiency "E".

In October of 1993, a Change of Command was held as Captain Hansen turned over to CDR George Manaskie, Bergall’s last Commanding Officer. During 1994 Bergall completed a five month Mediterranean deployment and she was awarded the Red "DC" for superior damage control efforts by COMSUBRON SIX. Though designated for decommissioning by this time, it was not a time of rest for the ol’ girl. During 1994, Bergall participated in multiple operations in August and October of 1994, resulting in the award of two Armed Forces Service Medals for operations in support of the Bosnian War, which was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995, and part of the breakup of former Yugoslavia.