15 November 1969 USS Gato (SSN 615) Nicknamed the Black Cat, collided with the infamous, bad-luck Soviet K-19 when both were in the Barents Sea at a depth of 200 feet. Damage to the K-19 was extensive, destroying the Submarine’s bow sonar and deforming the torpedo tube covers. Gato was relatively undamaged and continued its patrol. Gato was also known as the first nuclear powered submarine to transit the Panama Canal and then the first to circumnavigate South America.
© Gregg Smith
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