 Thornback (SS-418) in the Cooper River in Charleston, 1956. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSThornback |
| Namesake | Thornback shark |
| Builder | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard,Kittery, Maine[1] |
| Laid down | 5 April 1944[1] |
| Launched | 7 July 1944[1] |
| Commissioned | 13 October 1944[1] |
| Decommissioned | 6 April 1946[1] |
| Recommissioned | 2 October 1953[1] |
| Decommissioned | 1 July 1971[1] |
| Stricken | 1 August 1973[2] |
| Identification | Hull number SS-418 |
| Fate | Transferred toTurkey, 1 July 1971, sold to Turkey 1 August 1973[1] |
 Turkey | |
| Name | TCGUluçalireis (S 338) |
| Acquired | 1 July 1971 |
| Out of service | 2000 |
| Fate | Museum submarine atÇanakkale Naval Museum |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Tench-classdiesel-electricsubmarine[2] |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 311 ft 8 in (95.00 m)[2] |
| Beam | 27 ft 4 in (8.33 m)[2] |
| Draft | 17 ft (5.2 m) maximum[2] |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | |
| Range | 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[6] |
| Endurance |
|
| Test depth | 400 ft (120 m)[6] |
| Complement | 10 officers, 71 enlisted[6] |
| Armament |
|
| General characteristics (Guppy IIA) | |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 307 ft (93.6 m)[8] |
| Beam | 27 ft 4 in (8.3 m)[8] |
| Draft | 17 ft (5.2 m)[8] |
| Propulsion | |
| Speed |
|
| Armament |
|
USS Thornback (hull numberSS-418) is aTench-class submarine, the only ship of theUnited States Navy to be named for the thornback, a slender member of theshark family with a long pointed snout and a sharp spine at the end of each dorsal fin, native to northern Atlantic waters ranging from the temperate to the Arctic.
Her keel was laid down on 5 April 1944 by thePortsmouth Navy Yard. She waslaunched on 7 July 1944 sponsored by Mrs. Peter K. Fischler, andcommissioned on 13 October 1944 with Commander Ernest P. Abrahamson in command.
Struck from the U.S. Navy's register in 1973,Thornback was transferred to theTurkish Naval Forces and renamed TCGUluçalireis (S 338), serving until 2000. She is now a museum ship at theÇanakkale Naval Museum.
On 10 November 1944Thornback collided with USS CG-74327 (sank); one seaman was killed.[9]
Thornback stood out ofNew London, Connecticut, on 20 March 1945 bound, via thePanama Canal, for theHawaiian Islands. She arrived atPearl Harbor on 25 May and conducted training in Hawaiian waters prior to getting underway on 11 June for the western Pacific. As she stood down the Pearl Harbor channel, a formation ofLanding Craft Infantry (LCIs), running down the wrong side of the channel, forcedThornback to crowd dangerously near the extreme edge of the channel. In the process, the submarine damaged her sound dome, necessitating repairs and a two-day delay in departing.
She set sail forSaipan on 13 June, but she was rerouted toGuam. En route to theMariana Islands,Thornback conducted an average of four training dives daily, in conjunction with battle problems, drills, and emergency surfacing exercises, before she arrived at Guam on 25 June.
As lead ship of a wolf pack nicknamed "Abe's Abolishers",Thornback stood out to sea on 30 June, bound for the Japanese home islands. By this point in the war, American and British task forces steamed within easy gun range of Japanese coastal targets with near impunity. Japan's merchant marine and Navy had dwindled in size. Allied submarines and aircraft had taken an ever-increasing toll. In the air, Japan's once vaunted air forces had been struck from the skies. Sweeping ahead ofThird Fleet Task Forces, the "Abolishers" made antipicket boat sweeps in theTokyo-Yokohama area before proceeding to hunting grounds off the east coast ofHonshū and south ofHokkaidō.
Rough seas, strong winds, and generally poor visibility prevailed duringThornback’s patrol. She sighted ahospital ship on 5 July and let it pass. Six days later, a minor fire in the pump room caused a temporary shutdown in the number one air conditioning plant before swift repairs enabled the ship to continue as before.
On 15 July,Thornback sighted submarineSea Poacher (SS-406), and the two boats exchanged information on their hunting areas. They also swapped movies, precious commodities for boosting morale on board the crowded boats. Six days later,Thornback proceeded north to patrol offErimo Seki, an area which had recently seen a series of devastating carrier raids by AdmiralWilliam F. Halsey'sFast Carrier Task Force 38. The submarine's commanding officer noted somewhat humorously, "This area should be about as heavily traveled as theSahara Desert after the working over it just had...."
His assessment was correct—only straggling merchantmen and small patrol craft hugged the barren coasts. On 26 July, at 0320,Thornback submerged 8,000 yards (7,300 m) offHei Saki. At 0400, the submarine's sound gear picked up the "pinging" projected by a snooping Japanese escort ship, and she came to periscope depth to have a look.
Carefully maneuvering into position,Thornback fired one shot from her stern tubes at 04:29 and soon heard a small explosion which stopped the enemy's screws. Almost immediately the submariners picked up new sounds—two more escorts, "pinging" and coming aggressively closer. After sizing up the new attackers,Thornback felt that they were too small to use atorpedo on—besides, a Japanese floatplane had begun circling the area. A rowboat with a few Japanese sailors amidst a pile of flotsam testified to the fact that the first ship was no longer there. Satisfied that their quarry had been sunk, the submarine cleared the area. One of the other escorts gave up the chase and picked up survivors of her sunken sister. "All antisubmarine vessels have closed the beach,"Thornback’s commander later recorded, "and seem to be pinging away at the rocks."
Three days later, by periscope, the submarine spotted a 950-ton "sea truck", similar toSanko Maru, at 2,000 yards (1,800 m), close inshore. Unescorted, the Japanese presented a tempting target for a gun attack, but, no sooner hadThornback’s periscope shears and bow broken the surface, than the target slipped into the misty weather. Not to be daunted,Thornback followed, playing a cat and mouse game, and fired five torpedoes. All missed. She later sighted the enemy again, missed with three more torpedoes, and took the "sea truck" under fire. Despite poor visibility,Thornback closed to 300 yards (270 m) and scored numerous hits with the 40 millimeter guns. The target, however, was able to move closer inshore and escaped in the fog which closed around her like a shroud.
The submarine lurked on the surface offHokkaidō on 31 July and again tangled with some of the numerous Japanese patrol craft. She sighted a 100-foot (30 m) patrol boat at 500 yards (460 m) and closing.Thornback’s five-inch (127 mm) deck gun was trained out, but her crew could not keep their sights on the attacker through the telescopes and switched to open sights. Meanwhile, the 40 millimeter gun opened a devastating barrage at the enemy craft as it came steadily on a collision course. These shells continually hit the escort ship along the waterline and in the pilot house, probably killing the occupants on the bridge.
Thornback had passed her target once at 300 yards (270 m) and came about for a second pass when the forward torpedo room reported sharp noises forward. Further amplification showed that the noise was caused by enemy machine gun bullets striking the submarine's hull. Resuming the attack,Thornback swung back into action, with visibility only 300 yards (270 m) and lessening. Her 40 millimeter fire continued to maul the Japanese vessel, shooting away one of her masts and leaving her limping shoreward at only 3 knots (6 km/h). After securing from battle stations,Thornback passed through an oil slick and noted a mast from the heavily hit patrol craft.
Later on 31 July,Thornback rendezvoused withSea Poacher offKesennuma and proceeded north to pick up submarineAngler (SS-240) en route to a projected shore bombardment mission againstHokkaidō. The sight of the three submarines cruising on the surface movedThornback’s commander to write: "On this clear and sunny day, the three ships in perfect column on a flat sea made a beautiful picture tearing along at 18 knots."
At 14:02 on 1 August, this part of "Abe's Abolishers"—Thornback,Angler, andSea Poacher—made landfall off their target ofUrakawa,Hokkaidō. They swung parallel to the beach with guns manned and ready. Twelve minutes later, slowing to 10 knots (19 km/h),Thornback and her consorts opened fire with 5-inch (130 mm) and 40 millimeter batteries at a range of 4,200 yards (3,800 m). The first few rounds fromThornback’s five-incher went wild, but the crew soon locked onto the range. Firing by hand after the foot firing plunger broke off,Thornback’s gunners eventually sent 100 rounds of five-inch (127 mm) shells shoreward, heavily damaging a factory and a power plant. "The firing took 22 minutes and was of inestimable value to the entire crew," wrote the submarine's commanding officer. "The training was excellent and the boost to morale tremendous."
Thornback set sail forMidway Island after the shelling of Urakawa, and arrived at the atoll on 8 August. Seven days later, Japan—hemmed in by veritable armadas of Allied ships and planes which were able to roam almost at will and unchallenged off her coast and in her skies—surrendered.
Thornback soon returned to the United States, where she was decommissioned at New London on 6 April 1946 and was placed in theAtlantic Reserve Fleet. Subsequently, brought to thePortsmouth Naval Shipyard, she was converted and reactivated under theGreater Underwater Propulsive Power Program (GUPPY). On 2 October 1953, the submarine was recommissioned, Lieutenant Commander Thomas C. Jones, Jr., in command, and assigned to Submarine Squadron (SubRon) 4.
Shaking down in her new configuration, the submarine performed a "first" for submarines on 6 November 1954, when shesnorkeled in theMississippi River atNew Orleans, Louisiana, from theIndustrial Canal to the foot of Canal Street. With SubRon 4, the ship was based atKey West, Florida, and visited ports in theCaribbean Sea before entering theCharleston Naval Shipyard in February 1956 for overhaul. Upon completion of this work, the submarine was deployed to theMediterranean Sea for a tour with theSixth Fleet before returning to Key West in March 1957. While with SubRon 4,Thornback participated in operations supporting the Operational Development Force, the Fleet Sonar School, and the Fleet Training Unit atGuantanamo Bay, Cuba.
On 2 June 1958,Thornback departed the Caribbean, bound forLondonderry Port,Northern Ireland, and operations with the jointRoyal Navy-Royal Air Force antisubmarine school. While thus engaged, the submarine damaged her port propeller atLondonderry Port and became the first American submarine to be docked atFaslane by the Royal Navy.Thornback returned to theSixth Fleet and her second Mediterranean deployment which lasted from 2 July to 24 September 1958.
For the remainder of the ship's active career, she was based out ofCharleston, South Carolina, conducting deployments to the North Atlantic, theMediterranean Sea, and to theCaribbean Sea and operating in a support capacity as newer submarine types joined the Fleet.
Thornback received onebattle star for herWorld War II service.
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(February 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Placed in a reduced manning status on 14 April 1971, the ship was turned over to theTurkish Navy on 1 July 1971 and renamedTCGUluçalireis (S 338) for theOttoman admiralUluç Ali Reis. Decommissioned from theUnited States Navy on that same date, she was later struck from theNaval Vessel Register on 1 August 1973. In 2000, she was decommissioned after 28 years of service in the Turkish Navy. Handed over to theRahmi M. Koç Museum, she can be visited at her moorings inGolden Horn inIstanbul.
As of January 2024, she has been moved to theGölcük Naval Shipyard and is undergoing renovations and maintanace. On 7 February, she was seen in Kocaeli Province alongsideTCG Piri Reis the first vessel ofReis-class submarine.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
 United States Navy |
| ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
