USS Tusk

Tusk (SS-426) was laid down on 23 August 1943 at Philadelphia, Pa., by the Cramp Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 8 July 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Carolyn Park Mills; and commissioned on 11 April 1946, Comdr. Raymond A. Moore in command.

Tusk completed her shakedown cruise in the southern Atlantic with a round of goodwill visits to Latin American ports. She called at Rio de Janeiro and Bahia in Brazil, Curagao in the Netherlands West Indies, and at Colon in the Canal Zone before returning to New London in June. For the next year, she conducted operations along the east coast between New London and Wilmington, N.C. During the first month of 1947, Tusk participated in a fleet tactical exercise in the Central Atlantic. A three-month overhaul at Philadelphia followed by oceanographic work along the Atlantic shelf in conjunction with Columbia University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute occupied her until October 1947 when she entered the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for a "Guppy II" conversion.

Over the next seven months, Tusk received extensive modifications to improve her submerged performance characteristics. Four "greater capacity" batteries replaced her old larger ones. Her hull became more streamlined-the anchors were recessed into the hull and the propeller guards were removed-to improve her overall hydrodynamic design for underwater operations. Her sail was streamlined and enlarged to house the snorkel, a device added to allow her to operate on diesel power at periscope depth and to recharge her batteries while running submerged. All of these changes helped to convert Tusk from simply a submersible surface ship into a truer submarine. They increased her submerged range; and, though she lost about two knots in surface speed, her submerged speed increased from just under 10 knots to about 15.

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From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Tusk (SS-426)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.