Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
United States Navy — Submarine SS-340

USS Entemedor

Balao-class submarine diesel-electric submarine

USS Entemedor
Unknown author — Unknown source — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate — SS-340 USS_Entemedor; https://www.navsource.net/archives/08/08340.htm Starboard side view of the Entemedor (SS-340), underway in 1956, place unknown. US Navy photo courtesy of http://ussubvetsofwwii.org

Service

  1. United States Navy as Entemedor6 April 1945 — 31 July 1972149 days of the war
  2. Turkish Navy as TCG Preveze24 August 1972 — 1987
Balao-class submarine diesel-electric submarine Particulars
Name
USS Entemedor
Pennant / hull number
SS-340
Builder
Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down
3 February 1944
Launched
17 December 1944
Commissioned
6 April 1945
Decommissioned
10 December 1948
Recommissioned
24 October 1950
Struck
1 August 1973
Fate
Transferred to Turkey on 31 July or 24 August 1972
Sold to Turkey on 1 August 1973 (1972)
Status
Unknown

Specifications

Displacement, submerged
1,526 long tons (1,550 t)
Length
94.79 m (311 ft)
Beam
8.23 m (27 ft)
Draught
4.88 m (16 ft)
Range
11,000 nmi (20,372 km)
Complement
10
Main gun
127 mm (5 in)

SS-S40, originally named Chickwiek, was renamed Entemedor on 24 September 1942 and launched 17 December 1944 by Electric Boat Co., Groton, Conn.; sponsored by Mrs. E. V. Izac; and commissioned 6 April 1945, Lieutenant Commander W. R. Smith, Jr., in command.

Entemedor reached Pearl Harbor 29 June 1945 from New London, en route to Midway for advanced training and to prepare for war patrols. She put to sea on her first war patrol 24 July, and served as lifeguard for air strikes on Marcus Island before sailing on to patrol off Japan. When hostilities ceased she was ordered to Saipan, where she arrived 17 August.

The submarine returned to Seattle 22 September 1945, and began a'program of training operations along the west coast from San Diego. In 1946 and 1947, she made extended cruises in the Far East, basing at Subic Bay. She was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Mare Island Shipyard 10 December 1948.

Recommissioned 24 October 1950, Entemedor trained off the coast of California, and on 2 January 1951 sailed for New London and through the remainder of the year operated in the Atlantic. On 31 January 1952 she entered the Electric Boat Co.'s yard for extensive modernization, was placed in commission in reserve 28 February 1952, and returned to active status 17 October 1952.

Every second year beginning in 1953 Entemedor deployed to the Mediterranean to serve with the 6th Fleet, and from her home port at New London also sailed for a midshipman cruise to northern European ports in the summer of 1958, and to Portland, England, in February 1960. Her stateside operations included participation in large-scale exercises off the east coast and in the Caribbean, and serving as target for TF "Alfa," in development of antisubmarine warfare techniques. Through 1962 she continued to operate from New London.

From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Entemedor (SS-340)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • 4 × General Motors Model 16-278A V16 diesel engines driving electrical generators
  • 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries
  • 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears
  • 2 × propellers
  • 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced
  • 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged
Armament
  • 10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
  • 6 forward, 4 aft
  • 24 torpedoes
  • 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun
  • Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

Sister ships

86 more in the class

Sources

  • Facts harvested from USS Entemedor on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Service history reproduced verbatim from Entemedor (SS-340) , Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships — public domain, a work of the United States Government.
  • Photograph: Unknown author — Unknown source — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons