USS Pickerel (SS-524)
Service
- as USS Pickerel (SS-524)4 April 1949 — 18 August 1972
- as Primo Longobardo (S 501)18 August 1972 — 31 January 1980
- Name
- USS Pickerel
- Pennant / hull number
- SS-524
- Builder
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
- Laid down
- 8 February 1944
- Launched
- 15 December 1944
- Commissioned
- 4 April 1949
- Decommissioned
- 18 August 1972
- Struck
- 5 December 1977
- Fate
- Transferred to Italy, 18 August 1972 (1972)
- Status
- Unknown
Specifications — Completed as GUPPY II
- Displacement, surfaced
- 1,870 long tons (1,900 t)
- Displacement, submerged
- 2,440 long tons (2,479 t)
- Length
- 98.21 m (322.2 ft)
- Beam
- 8.23 m (27 ft)
- Draught
- 5.18 m (17 ft)
- Speed
- 18 knots (33.3 km/h, 20.7 mph)
- Range
- 15,119 nmi (28,000 km)
- Complement
- 9
The second Pickerel (SS-524) was laid down by the Boston Naval Shipyard 8 February 1944; launched without christening ceremony 15 December 1944; sponsored by Mrs. John R. Moore; christened and commissioned at the Portsmouth Navy Shipyard, N.H., 4 April 1949, Lt. Comdr. Paul R. Schratz in command.
After sea trials, Pickerel departed New London, Conn. 10 August, and headed for Hawaii via East and Gulf coast ports, and the Panama Canal and arrived Pearl Harbor 28 September where she joined SubDiv 11.
From 16 March to 5 April 1950, Pickerel completed a 5,200 mile voyage from Hong Kong to Pearl Harbor in 21 days while completely submerged, probably the longest distance ever traveled by a submerged diesel-electric submarine. During her first deployment in the Western Pacific in 1950, Pickerel spent 4 months in the Korean War Zone, one of the first submarines to enter the Korean Conflict.
Continue to the full service history About 344 words
From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Pickerel II (SS-524)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.
Armament and machinery
This vessel is recorded in 2 configurations. Wartime refits changed armament and complement substantially, so each is kept separately rather than averaged into one set of figures. The figures above are as built.
Completed as GUPPY II
- Propulsion
- 4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-1 10-cylinder opposed piston diesel engines, equipped with a snorkel, driving electrical generators
- 1 × 184 cell, 1 × 68 cell, and 2 × 126 cell GUPPY-type batteries (total 504 cells)
- 2 × low-speed direct-drive Westinghouse electric motors
- two propellers
- Armament
- 10 × 21 in torpedo tubes
- (six forward, four aft)
Guppy III
- Displacement, surfaced
- 1,975 long tons (2,007 t)
- Displacement, submerged
- 2,450 long tons (2,489 t)
- Length
- 97.84 m (321 ft)
- Beam
- 8.23 m (27 ft)
- Draught
- 5.18 m (17 ft)
- Speed
- 17.2 knots (31.9 km/h, 19.8 mph)
- Range
- 15,875 nmi (29,401 km)
- Complement
- 8
Sister ships
- PNS Ghazi
- USS Amberjack (SS-522)
- USS Argonaut (SS-475)
- USS Conger
- USS Cutlass
- USS Diablo
- USS Grampus (SS-523)
- USS Irex
- USS Medregal
- USS Odax
- USS Quillback
- USS Remora
- USS Requin
- USS Runner (SS-476)
- USS Sea Leopard
- USS Tench
- USS Thornback
- USS Tigrone
- USS Tirante
- USS Toro
- USS Torsk
- USS Trutta
- USS Volador (SS-490)
Sources
- Facts harvested from USS Pickerel (SS-524) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Service history reproduced verbatim from Pickerel II (SS-524) , Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships — public domain, a work of the United States Government.
- Photograph: Official U.S. Navy — http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/u140000/u140854.jpg — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons