USS Barracuda (SSK-1/SST-3/SS-550), the lead ship of her class, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the barracuda, a voracious, pike-like fish. Her keel was laid down on 1 July 1949 by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 2 March 1951 as K-1 sponsored by Mrs. Willis Manning Thomas, and commissioned on 10 November 1951 with Lieutenant Commander F. A. Andrews in command. Notably, United States President Jimmy Carter served as an officer on the SSK-1 during its first year of active duty.