 Tusk, after the GUPPY II conversion | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSTusk |
| Builder | Cramp Shipbuilding Company,Philadelphia[1] |
| Yard number | 560 |
| Laid down | 23 August 1943[1] |
| Launched | 8 July 1945[1] |
| Commissioned | 11 April 1946[1] |
| Decommissioned | 18 October 1973[1] |
| Stricken | 18 October 1973[2] |
| Identification | SS-426 |
| Fate | Transferred to theRepublic of China, 18 October 1973 |
 Republic of China | |
| Name | ROCSHai Pao |
| Acquired | 18 October 1973 |
| Identification | SS-792 |
| Status | Afloat atTsoying Naval Base, Kaohsiung as of November 2020 |
| General characteristics (As completed) | |
| Class & type | Balao-classdiesel-electricsubmarine[2] |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2] |
| Beam | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2] |
| Draft | 16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum[2] |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | |
| Range | 11,000nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[6] |
| Endurance |
|
| Test depth | 400 feet (120 m)[6] |
| Complement | 10 officers, 70–71 enlisted[6] |
| Armament |
|
| General characteristics (Guppy II) | |
| Class & type | GUPPY II |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 307 ft (94 m)[8] |
| Beam | 27 ft 4 in (8.33 m)[8] |
| Draft | 17 ft (5.2 m)[8] |
| Propulsion | |
| Speed |
|
| Range | 15,000 nmi (28,000 km) surfaced at 11 knots (20 km/h)[8] |
| Endurance | 48 hours at 4 knots (7.4 km/h) submerged[8] |
| Complement |
|
| Sensors & processing systems |
|
| Armament |
|
USSTusk (SS-426), aBalao-classsubmarine, was the only ship of theUnited States Navy to be named for thetusk, an alternate name for the cusk, a large edible saltwater fish related to thecod. Her keel was laid down on 23 August 1943 atPhiladelphia by theCramp Shipbuilding Company. She waslaunched on 8 July 1945 sponsored by Mrs. Carolyn Park Mills, andcommissioned on 11 April 1946.
Tusk andTrumpetfish are erroneously listed with theTench class in some sources, as their hull numbers are in the sequence assigned to that class.
Tusk completed her shakedown cruise in the southern Atlantic with a round of goodwill visits toLatin American ports. She called atRio de Janeiro andBahia inBrazil,Curaçao in theNetherlands West Indies, and atColón in thePanama Canal Zone before returning toNew London, Connecticut, in June. For the next year, she conducted operations along the East Coast between New London andWilmington, North Carolina. During the first month of 1947,Tusk participated in a fleet tactical exercise in the Central Atlantic. A three-month overhaul at Philadelphia, followed by oceanographic work[9] along the Atlantic shelf in conjunction withColumbia University and theWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution occupied her until October 1947 when she entered thePortsmouth Naval Shipyard for aGreater Underwater Propulsive Power Program (GUPPY) conversion.
Over the next seven months,Tusk received extensive modifications to improve her submerged performance characteristics. Four "greater capacity" batteries replaced her old larger ones. Her hull became more streamlined—the anchors were recessed into the hull and the propeller guards were removed—to improve her overall hydrodynamic design for underwater operations. Her sail was streamlined and enlarged to house thesnorkel, a device added to allow her to operate on diesel power atperiscope depth and to recharge her batteries while running submerged. All of these changes helped to convertTusk from simply a submersible surface ship into a truer submarine. They increased her submerged range; and, though she lost about two knots in surface speed, her submerged speed increased from just under 10 knots (19 km/h) to about 15 knots (28 km/h).
The newly converted submarine returned to active duty early in the summer of 1948. She conducted her shakedown training and made a simulated war patrol to the Panama Canal Zone in June and July. She returned to theUnited States in August and visited theUnited States Naval Academy atAnnapolis, Maryland, where her presence allowed about 1000 fourth-classmen to see at firsthand the latest development in submarine design. That fall and winter,Tusk resumed normal operations, participating in exercises with other United States andNATO forces. She ranged from theCaribbean Sea in the south to above theArctic Circle in the north. The beginning of 1949 brought a more restricted radius of operations. During the first six months of that year, she served with Submarine Development Group 2 based atNewport, Rhode Island. In July,Tusk rejoined the multinational forces of NATO for another round of exercises in the North Atlantic. During these exercises, she visitedDerry,Northern Ireland, andPortsmouth,England.
During the final phase of those exercises,Tusk was operating in a unit which also included the submarineCochino. On 25 August, while steaming through a gale off the coast ofNorway,Cochino suffered an explosion in one of her batteries.Tusk rushed to the aid of the stricken submarine, providing medical supplies forCochino's injured by way of life rafts. One such raft capsized in heavy seas sending aCochino officer and a civilian employee of the Bureau of Ships into the icyArctic Sea. Both were recovered, but during the administration ofartificial respiration on boardTusk, another wave broke over her deck washing away the civilian and 11Tusk crewmen. Only four sailors were subsequently rescued. After those tragic events,Tusk and the limpingCochino headed forHammerfest, Norway. Along the way, another explosion erupted inCochino's aft battery. The second detonation sealedCochino's fate. Water poured through her battered hull.Tusk came alongside in heavy seas and lashed herself to the sinking submarine. Under the worst possible conditions,Tusk took all ofCochino's crew off safely. Minutes laterCochino took her final plunge andTusk headed for Hammerfest.
That fall, the submarine returned to the United States to resume East Coast operations out of New London in support of the Submarine School. She made cruises north toHalifax, Nova Scotia, and south toBermuda. Her duty with the Submarine School continued until the middle of 1951 when she was assigned once more to Submarine Development Group 2. That assignment, punctuated by regular exercises with the fleet, continued until the summer of 1952 when she returned to an operational unit,Submarine Squadron (SubRon) 10. Normal East Coast duty out of New London lasted until late in the year at which timeTusk was deployed to theMediterranean Sea for a six-month tour with theSixth Fleet. Her return to the United States early in the summer of 1953 brought more local operations out of New London. During the first part of 1954, the submarine operated in the Caribbean. Then, after four months of local operations out of New London, she sailed for northern European waters. That tour brought port visits toBelfast, Northern Ireland, andGlasgow,Scotland, as well as training exercises with NATO forces in the northern Atlantic.
The first four years of the 1950s established the pattern for the remainder ofTusk's Navy career. She saw four additional Mediterranean deployments between 1954 and 1973. Initially, however, a long stretch of East Coast operations intervened between overseas deployments. Six years elapsed between her 1954 northern Europe assignment and her second Mediterranean cruise late in 1960. The fall of 1961 brought another round of NATO exercises followed by joint American-Canadian training operations in the western Atlantic. Another three-year period of New London-based local operations occurred before she was deployed again to Europe in the fall of 1964 for more NATO training. During the spring and summer of 1966,Tusk returned to the Mediterranean for her third tour of duty with the Sixth Fleet. Late 1966 brought a resumption of duty in American coastal waters which lasted until early 1967. During the summer of 1967, the submarine returned to northern European waters, visiting several ports and participating in yet another series of multinational NATO exercises. That November, she joined in binational American-Canadian exercises in the western Atlantic before resuming her East Coast routine. Throughout 1968 and during the first half of 1969, the ship continued New London based operations, including services to nuclear-powered submarinesJack andLafayette. In July, she made her fourth deployment to the Mediterranean, returning to East Coast operations in October.
After almost three years of that New London-based routine, including an overhaul at theCharleston Navy Yard from July to December 1971,Tusk set out for her fifth and final tour of duty with the Sixth Fleet. She concluded that cruise the following October. The submarine rounded out the final year of her career with normal operations along the eastern seaboard, primarily in theNew England vicinity. On 18 October 1973,Tusk was decommissioned at New London, Connecticut, struck from theNaval Vessel Register, and on 18 October 1973 transferred, by sale, to theRepublic of China (Taiwan).
Ex-Tusk was commissioned into theRepublic of China Navy asHai Pao (meaning "seal"), first with hull number SS-92, then SS-794, and finally SS-792.[10] The terms of the purchase specified that she be used strictly for ASW training, so hertorpedo tubes were welded shut before the transfer. The Taiwanese restored thetorpedo tubes in 1976 and reportedly received modern torpedoes throughItaly from a number of sources. The boat is reportedly allowed only to operate in sea shallower than 100m.[11]As of November 2020,Hai Pao was still afloat atTsoying Naval Base, Kaohsiung.[citation needed]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be foundhere andhere.
