Adoption of a single screw was a matter of considerable debate and analysis within the Navy, as two shafts offered redundancy and improved maneuverability.

Also like Albacore, the Skipjacks used HY-80 high-strength steel, with a yield strength of 80,000 psi (550 MPa), although this was not initially used to increase the diving depth relative to other US submarines.

[4] Previous designs had routed the trim system piping through the control room, where the valves were manually operated.

This greatly conserved control room space and reduced the time required to conduct trim operations.

The entire aft section of HMS Dreadnought was identical to the Skipjack class as the hull was built around the reactor and could not be changed but the fore section was based on earlier British studies into nuclear submarine design, great care had to be taken to marry the two designs alignment.

Skipjack was certified as the "world's fastest submarine" after initial sea trials in March 1959, although the actual speed attained was classified.

The Skipjacks remained the fastest US nuclear-powered submarines until the first of the Los Angeles class entered service in 1974.

This was due to the increased size of the Thresher and Sturgeon classes, which retained Skipjack's S5W power plant, plus the introduction of the skewback screw, which was quiet but mechanically inefficient.

The Skipjack-class submarines were withdrawn from service in the late 1980s and early 1990s except for Scorpion, which sank on 22 May 1968 southwest of the Azores while returning from a Mediterranean deployment, with all 99 crewmembers lost.