USS Parche (SSN-683), a Sturgeon-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the parche, a small, coral reef butterfly fish. Parche was launched on 13 January 1973, sponsored by Natalie Beshany, the wife of Vice Admiral Philip A. Beshany, and commissioned on 17 August 1974.
USS Parche (SSN-683) off Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, sometime prior to October 1985. The structure on the after part of her casing is a permanently attached swimmer lock-out chamber, although described under its naval cover as Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle.[citation needed] Her ship's insignia is at lower right.
Parche returns to port for the last time at Naval Base Kitsap at Bangor, Washington, on 20 September 2004.
Parche's sail in the downtown waterfront park at Bremerton, Washington.(discuss)
The Sturgeon class was a class of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines (SSN) in service with the United States Navy from the 1960s until 2004. They were the "workhorses" of the Navy's attack submarine fleet throughout much of the Cold War. The boats were phased out in the 1990s and early 21st century, as their successors, the Los Angeles, followed by the Seawolf and Virginia-class boats, entered service.
USS Sturgeon
Control room
USS Pargo (SSN-650) surfaced in Arctic ice.
