USS Sandlance SSN-660 Submarine Model. Dive again with your shipmates in this USS Sandlance SSN-660 Submarine Model. Each piece is carved from wood and hand painted to provide a piece you’ll love. Length – 20 inches. US Veteran Owned Business. The product is not intended to be used by children 12 years and younger. The contract to build Sand Lance was awarded to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Maine, on 24 October 1963 and her keel was laid down there on 15 January 1965. She was launched on 11 November 1969, sponsored by Mrs. McIntyre, and commissioned on 25 September 1971 with Commander William A. Service history On the day of her commissioning, Sand Lance’s home port was changed from Portsmouth to Charleston, South Carolina. She spent the remainder of 1971 on shakedown. She operated in the Charleston area for the whole of 1972, then, in February 1973, stood out of Charleston for special operations. She completed these operations in August 1973 and put in at Faslane Naval Base, Scotland, on 13 August 1973. Sand Lance left Faslane on 20 August 1973 and arrived in Charleston on 5 September 1973. She then operated out of Charleston in the western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea through at least June 1974. She went through overhaul at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in 1975 and 1976 (15 months). In 1987, Sand Lance completed Law Enforcement Operations in the Caribbean Sea and was transferred to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery Maine for a refueling overhaul, replacement of propeller (screw), and upgrades to hull coatings. In 1991 the Sand Lance was deployed for six months as part of the UNITAS task force around South America. She traveled through the Panama Canal and around the southernmost tip of South America. From October 1993 to March 1994 the Sand Lance was on a Mediterranean Sea Deployment and called on ports at Naples, Italy; Monte Carlo, Monaco; U. Naval Support Activity Base Santo Stefano Island, Italy; Toulon, France, and Gibraltar. Plates, called blanks, had been placed over her hull penetrations by divers to avoid flooding during removal of the valve but had been placed over the wrong main seawater openings. The flooding was stopped, but not before most of the engine room’s lower level was flooded. In 1995, the Sand Lance left Charleston and relocated to a new homeport in Groton, Connecticut, where she became a member of Submarine Squadron 2. In 1996, the Sand Lance was sent on a patrol to the Arctic Circle. While there, the submarine surfaced through the polar ice cap at the North Pole on 12 July. Decommissioning and disposal Sand Lance was decommissioned on 7 August 1998 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day. Sand Lance’s Maneuvering Room Consoles, which were used to control the engines, electrical systems and nuclear reactor were displayed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D. And are now stored there in the event of future exhibits involving nuclear submarines.