The Daily Cold: June 2

1969

• June 2: The fleet attack submarine USS Sea Leopard (SS-483) was underway on Cold War operations. According to official Navy histories, Sea Leopard “deployed on a special operation to the North Atlantic” on 2 June 1969. She returned to Norfolk on 15 August and then entered the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in January 1970 for overhaul.

1971

USS Seawolf (SSN-575) in drydock at Mare Island on 2 June 1971. The nuclear-powered Seawolf received a new “special projects” hull section on this date.

• June 2: The nuclear submarine USS Seawolf (SSN-575) underwent a major conversion at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. On that day she received a new “special projects” hull section, as documented by U.S. Navy photographs and archives.

1973

• June 2: The new Sturgeon-class submarine USS L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) was launched at Newport News Shipbuilding. The launch ceremony was sponsored by Congressman Rivers’s daughters Ravenel and Eastman.
  L. Mendel Rivers would later be commissioned into service in late 1974.

Sources: Official Naval archives and photo collections including the Naval History and Heritage Command (DANFS) and contemporary museum and media reports.