The USS Blueback (SS-581) was a Barbel-class diesel-electric submarine that holds a unique place in American naval history as the final conventionally powered combat submarine to be decommissioned by the U.S. Navy. Commissioned in 1959, the 219-foot vessel incorporated a revolutionary "teardrop" hull design and a single propeller system, allowing for unprecedented underwater speed and maneuverability. Operating primarily in the Pacific Fleet during the Cold War, Blueback spent over three decades conducting vital undersea surveillance, deployment exercises, and fleet support operations. Her active career concluded in October 1990, marking the transition of the U.S. Navy's combat submarine fleet to an entirely nuclear-powered force.
Following her decommissioning, Blueback found a second life as an educator and cultural icon. In 1994, she was towed to Portland, Oregon, where she became a permanent, premier floating exhibit at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) along the Willamette River. Recognized for her historic engineering significance and pristine condition, the submarine was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. Today, visitors can step inside the tightly packed, vintage corridors of the vessel—which even made a notable Hollywood cameo in the film The Hunt for Red October—to get a firsthand look at the claustrophobic and technically demanding lives of Cold War-era submariners.
