USS Quillback
Service
- as Quillback29 December 1944 — 23 March 1973248 days of the war
- Name
- USS Quillback
- Namesake
- Quillback
- Builder
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
- Laid down
- 27 June 1944
- Launched
- 1 October 1944
- Commissioned
- 29 December 1944
- Decommissioned
- April 1952
- Recommissioned
- 27 February 1953
- Struck
- 23 March 1973
- Fate
- Sold for scrap, 21 March 1974 (1974)
- Status
- Scrapped
Specifications — As built
- Displacement, submerged
- 2,414 long tons (2,453 t)
- Length
- 94.79 m (311 ft)
- Beam
- 8.23 m (27 ft)
- Draught
- 5.18 m (17 ft)
- Speed
- 20.3 knots (37.5 km/h, 23.3 mph)
- Range
- 11,000 nmi (20,372 km)
- Complement
- 81
- Main gun
- 127 mm (5 in)
USS Quillback was a Tench-class diesel-electric submarine of the United States Navy. She was named for Quillback. Her keel was laid at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine on 27 June 1944. Launched on 1 October 1944, she entered service on 29 December 1944.
Her class ran to 24 ships. The class followed the Balao-class submarine and was succeeded by the Barracuda class.
The boat displaced 1,870 long tons surfaced and 2,414 long tons submerged. She measured 94.8 m (311 ft) long with a beam of 8.2 m (27 ft). Her designed speed was 20.2 knots, and she carried a complement of 81. Her main battery was of 127 mm (5 in) calibre.
She was in commission for 248 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned in April 1952. She recommissioned on 27 February 1953. She was struck from the register on 23 March 1973.
She was broken up for scrap on 21 March 1974.
Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.
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.
As built
- Propulsion
- 4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-⅛ 10-cylinder opposed piston diesel engines driving electrical generators
- 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries
- 2 × low-speed direct-drive Elliott electric motors
- 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)
- 28 torpedoes
- 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun
- Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
Guppy II
- Displacement, surfaced
- 1,870 long tons (1,900 t)
- Displacement, submerged
- 2,440 long tons (2,479 t)
- Length
- 93.57 m (307 ft)
- Beam
- 8.23 m (27 ft)
- Draught
- 5.18 m (17 ft)
- Speed
- 18 knots (33.3 km/h, 20.7 mph)
- Range
- 15,000 nmi (27,780 km)
- Complement
- 9
- Propulsion
- Snorkel added
- Batteries upgraded to GUPPY type, capacity expanded to 504 cells (1 × 184 cell, 1 × 68 cell, and 2 × 126 cell batteries)
- Armament
- 10 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
- (six forward, four aft)
- all guns removed
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 Pickerel (SS-524)
- 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 Quillback on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Photograph: Unknown author — Unknown source — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons