Service history USS Torsk

1 service history

1.1 1944–45
1.2 1946–68
1.3 1968–72 & legacy

service history

port-side profile


1944–45

her keel laid down on 7 june 1944 @ portsmouth navy yard. launched on 6 september 1944 sponsored bess m. reed (wife of navy captain allen b. reed), , commissioned on 16 december 1944 commander bafford e. lewellen in command.

completed on last day of 1944, torsk trained out of portsmouth, new hampshire, newport, rhode island, , new london, connecticut, until 11 february 1945, when headed florida. on 16 february, submarine arrived @ port everglades, florida, provided services antisubmarine research. departed florida port on 20 february, transited panama canal, , reached hawaii on 23 march.

after repair , training period, got underway pearl harbor first war patrol. torsk paused briefly @ guam en route area off kii suido reached on 11 may , began lifeguard duty. air contacts few in period, , submarine found no opportunity conduct rescue operations. toward midnight on 11 may, set course patrol area off northeastern coast of honshū. arrived there on 13 may and, 2 days, attempted contact other members of wolf pack, lewellen s looters. on 16 may, made rendezvous submarines sand lance , cero. more fortnight, careful coverage of east coast of honshū turned nothing more interesting naval mines.

on 2 june, while patrolling between honshū , hokkaidō, torsk came upon small coastal minelayer. submarine fired 6 torpedoes—which small vessel avoided maneuvering—and dove , rigged depth charges did not materialize. torsk had disappointing encounter on 4 june when, while patrolling off kobe saki, fired 4 torpedoes @ 700-ton freighter without scoring. following day, set course homeward, stopped @ midway island on 11 june, , returned pearl harbor on 16 june.

after refitting , installation of new equipment, submarine got underway second war patrol on 17 july. spent first 2 days of august @ guam , set course sea of japan. passed through minefields of tsushima strait on 10 august and, on morning of 11 august, rescued 7 japanese merchant seamen had survived sinking of koue maru 4 days before. afternoon, submarine entered patrol area and, on following morning off dogo island, torsk made submerged periscope attack sank small coastal freighter.

sail , boat s mascot emblem

on 13 august, patrolled off ando saki and, after sighting number of fishing boats during morning, sighted small freighter, kaiho maru, promptly sank. later same day, made unsuccessful attack on cargo ship entered wakasa wan; dodged through 75-boat fishing fleet, , outdistanced maru s escort.

off amarubi saki on morning of 14 august, torsk sighted medium cargo ship , took chase. 745-ton kaibokan-class patrol escort vessel accompanied freighter seaward, presenting submarine tempting target. @ 1035, freighter , escort approached kasumi ko, torsk launched 1 of new experimental mark 28 torpedoes @ escorting ship kaibokan 13. minutes later, fish found mark; explosion bent stern of frigate 30-degree angle, , shortly thereafter target sank. freighter entered harbor half hour later, torsk attempted sink unsuccessful, possibly because torpedoes struck undetected reefs near mouth of harbor.

around noon, frigate appeared, apparently reinforcement had been called in. continuing aggressive action, torsk fired mark 28 torpedo @ frigate had detected submarine s presence. commander lewellen initiated deep submergence procedures , ordered crew rig silent running. after tense 5 minutes, reached 400 feet (120 m) , there launched torpedo, time new acoustic mark 27. immediately, loud explosion announced first torpedo had found mark, , minute later second explosion sounded, followed strong breaking noises-the vessel kaibokan 47. secret new torpedoes had proven worth in battle , torsk credited, not 2 enemy warships, sinking last japanese warship sunk in world war ii. held down enemy planes , patrol vessels, submarine remained submerged more 7 hours. then, surfaced , headed noto peninsula.

on 15 august, following 4 highly successful days of aggressive patrolling, torsk received word of cessation of hostilities. continued patrol in sea of japan, conducting visual , photo surveillance , destroying floating mines. on 31 august, thought torpedo wake sighted, indicator not had heard news of war s ending.

the submarine set course mariana islands on 1 september, passed through tsushima straits on 3 september, , arrived @ guam on 9 september, completing second war patrol.

1946–68

torsk, showing stepped sail of fleet snorkel conversion

she departed marianas on next day, proceeded via pearl harbor , canal zone, , arrived @ new london in mid-october. next 7 years, operated out of port serving training ship, participating in exercises , tests, , making naval reserve training cruises. in june 1949, assigned submarine squadron 2; and; in summer of 1950, deployed mediterranean sea. ship returned new london in fall fleet exercises and, following year, extended operations caribbean sea.

early in 1952, completed conversion fleet snorkel submarine , deployed again mediterranean summer. returning on 27 november, continued operations out of new london ranging halifax, nova scotia, havana, cuba, trained prospective submarine personnel , laid exercise mine fields. in 1955, reassigned submarine squadron 6 @ norfolk, virginia. there, duties included services aircraft , surface ships them hone skills in antisubmarine warfare. made frequent caribbean voyages , participated in operation springboard. in june 1959, proceeded via saint lawrence seaway great lakes, visited various ports on lake ontario , lake michigan, returned norfolk operating area in mid-august.

in 1960s, made mediterranean deployments; joined commonwealth countries in exercise new broom x , , continued duties in training antisubmarine forces in atlantic. during cuban missile crisis in fall of 1962, patrolled in support of blockade of caribbean island.

1968–72 & legacy

on 4 march 1968 veteran submarine decommissioned and, following modifications @ boston navy yard, assigned washington navy yard use in training reserves. torsk operated out of washington until 1971 and, on 15 december of year, struck naval vessel register. on 26 september 1972, turned on state of maryland used museum ship in inner harbor @ baltimore, maryland. part of fleet collection of historic ships in baltimore. torsk designated national historic landmark on 14 january 1986. torsk , companions major contributing elements in baltimore national heritage area.

torsk received 2 battle stars world war ii service , navy commendation medal service during cuban missile crisis. owing use training submarine made 11,884 career dives, more modern submarines do.