USS Tinosa ( SSN - 606 ) USS " Tinosa " ( SSN - 606 ) , a " Permit " - class submarine , was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the tinosa , a poisonous , black , tropical fish . The contract to build her was awarded to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery , Maine on 17 December 1958 and her keel was laid down on 24 November 1959 . She was launched on 9 December 1961 sponsored by Mrs . Samuel B . Stratton , the wife of Congressman Samuel B . Stratton of New York , and commissioned on 17 October 1964 , with Commander Robert B . Brumsted in command . Service history . Following shakedown out of New London , Connecticut , the submarine underwent availability at her builder ' s yard from April to June 1966 before making a cruise to Faslane , Scotland , and the Caribbean Sea . After an overhaul which lasted from March through June 1967 , the ship provided services for the Naval Underwater Sound Laboratory at New London through the first three months of 1968 . During this tour , " Tinosa " was based briefly at Port Everglades , Florida , as well as at New London and visited Bermuda in the course of her operations . At the end of this experimental and test duty , " Tinosa " began local operations out of New London . " Tinosa " continued to work off the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean into 1969 . During her major overhaul in the spring of that year , she received the SUBSAFE submarine safety improvements designed in the wake of the tragic loss of submarine in April 1963 . Following the completion of this yard period in December 1971 , " Tinosa " resumed active operations off the eastern seaboard and into the familiar waters of the Caribbean Sea and continued the routine into the middle of 1972 . In July , she crossed the Atlantic for visits to ports in northern Europe and for deployment in the Mediterranean Sea with the 6th Fleet . After operating out of Sardinia and Holy Loch during this period , she returned home in December to conduct tests in conjunction with a project sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . " Tinosa " worked out of New London from 1 February 1973 until the end of March , operating with submarines and surface craft on exercises and maneuvers . After a three - day visit to the United States Naval Academy in late April , where she served in a familiarization program for midshipmen , " Tinosa " underwent a tender availability alongside at New London . In ensuing months , the submarine was twice deployed to Bermuda and operated off Andros Island before participating in joint United States - Canadian antisubmarine warfare exercises in December off the Florida coast . After being dry - docked in auxiliary repair drydock at New London from January to March 1974 , " Tinosa " departed her home port on 19 May , bound for the Mediterranean , and conducted her second deployment with the Sixth Fleet through the summer months . She visited Bizerte from 24 June to 1 July and was the first nuclear - powered submarine to visit Tunisia . Returning to New London on 16 November , the ship operated locally out of her homeport into late February 1975 . Subsequently operating in the Narragansett Bay area into the spring of that year , " Tinosa " departed New London on 23 July , bound for Charleston , South Carolina . She later shifted south to operate off the Florida coast . The ship underwent a major overhaul at the Ingalls Shipbuilding yard at Pascagoula , Mississippi , from late 1975 to 12 December 1977 . She then resumed operations with the Atlantic Fleet commencing with two months of weapons system testing in the Caribbean from 13 February to 20 May 1978 . This was followed by a combined exercise with units of the Royal Canadian Navy off Florida in mid - April . Most of the summer was spent in preparing for " Tinosa " ’ s forthcoming deployment to the Mediterranean Sea . On 13 September , she departed New London for five months of operations with the Sixth Fleet . At the end of 1978 , the nuclear attack submarine was in upkeep in La Maddalena , Sardinia , following operations with a NATO task force composed of United States , British , Italian , and Turkish naval units . On 4 January 1988 , she departed New London for six months of operations with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean . In October 1988 she departed New London for 60 days of North Atlantic Operations and crossed the Arctic Circle . " Tinosa " was deactivated while still in commission on 15 July 1991 , then decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 January 1992 . ex - " Tinosa " entered the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program in Bremerton , Washington , on 15 July 1991 and on 26 June 1992 ceased to exist .