Free talk on submarines named Seawolf at Military Museum on Saturday, Feb. 21

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The current USS Seawolf underway in the Thames River in Connecticut. (Courtesy U.S. Navy)

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (02/13/2015)(readMedia)-- The story of the United States Navy's submarines named "Seawolf" will be the subject of a free talk at the New York State Military Museum here on Saturday, Feb. 21.

Retired nuclear engineer Ray Misiewicz will outline the stories of four submarines which were given the name Seawolf by the Navy.

Misiewicz worked for 43 years at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory where he helped designed nuclear propulsion plants and supported the Navy nuclear program.

The program begins at 2 p.m.

There have been four submarines named U.S.S. Seawolf, all named for the Atlantic wolffish, also known as the seawolf.

In the early days of the submarine service, American submarines were traditionally named for fish.

The current U.S.S Seawolf is a nuclear attack submarine commissioned in 1997. This Seawolf is the lead submarine in a three-submarine class designed in the 1980s to counter more advanced Soviet submarines.

The first U.S.S. Seawolf was launched in 1913 in San Francisco and sunk in 1920 off the coast of Baja California.

The second U.S.S. Seawolf was launched in 1939 and served with distinction in the Pacific during World War II, sinking 11 Japanese ships. The submarine was probably sunk mistakenly by an American ship on Oct. 3, 1944.

The third Seawolf was the world's second nuclear-powered submarine when it was commissioned in 1957.

This Seawolf was powered by an experimental nuclear reactor cooled by liquid sodium. That reactor was eventually replaced by a more conventional system.

In 1973 the third U.S.S Seawolf was modified for special spy missions which included tapping Soviet communications cables. The submarine was stricken from the Navy list in 1987.

Located at 61 Lake Avenue in Saratoga Springs, N.Y, the New York State Military Museum is administered by the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs. Its collection focuses on New York's military history from the French and Indian Wars to the present day..