USS Parche (SS-384)
Service
- 20 November 1943 — 11 December 1946652 days of the war
- Name
- USS Parche
- Pennant / hull number
- SS-384
- Builder
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
- Laid down
- 9 April 1943
- Launched
- 24 July 1943
- Commissioned
- 20 November 1943
- Decommissioned
- 11 December 1946
- Struck
- 8 November 1969
- Fate
- Sold for scrap, 18 June 1970 (1970)
- Status
- Scrapped
Specifications
- Length
- 94.79 m (311 ft)
- Beam
- 8.23 m (27 ft)
- Draught
- 4.88 m (16 ft)
- Speed
- 20.3 knots (37.5 km/h, 23.3 mph)
- Range
- 11,000 nmi (20,372 km)
- Complement
- 10
- Main gun
- 127 mm (5 in)
A small, gorgeously colored butterfly fish, known for its uncanny ability to swim in and around coral heads and reefs. The fish can find its way through the most intricate passages by swimming upside down or on its side.
Parche (SS-384) was laid down 9 April 1943 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard; launched 24 July 1943; sponsored by Miss Betty Russell; and commissioned 20 November 1943, Comdr. L. P. Ramage in command.
On 29 March 1944 the submarine slipped out of Pearl Harbor with Tinosa (SS-283) and Bang (SS-385) for her first war patrol. After topping off at Midway, the three reached the sea lanes south of Formosa 16 April. On 29 April Bang reported a large convoy 50 miles away, and the wolf pack attacked, Parche getting one hit.
Continue to the full service history About 1,028 words
From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Parche I (SS-384)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.
Armament and machinery
Armament and machinery
- Propulsion
- 4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-⅛ 10-cylinder opposed piston diesel engines driving electrical generators
- 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries
- 4 × high-speed Elliott electric motors with reduction gears
- two 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
- ARA Santa Fe (S-21)
- USS Apogon
- USS Archerfish (SS-311)
- USS Aspro (SS-309)
- USS Atule
- USS Balao
- USS Bang
- USS Barbel (SS-316)
- USS Barbero
- USS Batfish (SS-310)
- USS Baya
- USS Becuna
- USS Bergall (SS-320)
- USS Besugo
- USS Billfish (SS-286)
- USS Blackfin
- USS Blanquillo (SS-323)
- USS Blenny
- USS Blower
- USS Blueback (SS-326)
- USS Boarfish
- USS Bowfin
- USS Brill
- USS Bugara
Sources
- Facts harvested from USS Parche (SS-384) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Service history reproduced verbatim from Parche I (SS-384) , Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships — public domain, a work of the United States Government.
- Photograph: USN photo from the files of the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum via Darryl L. Baker — https://www.navsource.net/archives/08/08384.htm — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons