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This was the last boat I was able to serve on prior to my commissioning as a Chief Warrant Officer. The Sculpin was a good old boat, but it took a lot, and I mean a lot, of work to keep her going. A-gang was always repairing something and sometimes it was with gum and baling wire 'cause you couldn't get parts. But she did her job right up until the end.
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Coming off the "Step", if you know what I mean. If you don't know what it means, read on. On the surface, at about 12 knots, we would place the stern planes at 10 to 15 degrees rise and the bow would plane up. Speed would increase from 12 to 14 knots to 16 to 18 knots. The old "S" girls could kick butt on the surface against the 637 and 688 class boats as we "raced" out of New London to the open ocean. Once submerged though, the 688's could outspeed, but not out manuever, us.
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USS Sculpin was named for the great family of Sculpins, or Cottidae, which are especially characteristic of northern seas. Sculpins are arctic or subarctic being found around the world north of Italy, Virginia, California, and Japan.
The Sculpins are grotesque fish with large, depressed spiny or armored heads and short tapering bodies. The eyes are placed high in the head and the space between them is narrow. The pectoral fins are large and fanlike and are used by some fresh water species to hang onto stones. The majority of Sculpins are small, ranging up to one foot in length and one pound in weight, but a few attain larger sizes.
Most Sculpins inhabit tidal pools and shallow shore waters, living on the bottom and feeding on crabs and small fish. A few inhabit waters of considerable depth. The flesh of Sculpins is edible but because of their small size and unattractive form they are seldom eaten.