USS Volador (SS-490)

The second Volador (SS-490) was laid down on 15 June 1945 by the Portsmouth (N.H.) Naval Shipyard, but work on her construction was discontinued in January 1946. Her unfinished hulk remained on the ways until August 1947 when construction resumed. The submarine was launched on 21 May 1948; sponsored by Mrs. Dudley W. Morton; and commissioned on 1 October 1948, Comdr. H. A. Thompson in command.

Volador completed her builder's trials on 20 January 1949, left Portsmouth three days later, and stopped at Newport and New London before sailing for the Gulf of Mexico on 5 February. Volador arrived at New Orleans on 11 February and proceeded to the west coast, via Galveston and the Panama Canal, and arrived at San Diego on 11 March. The submarine conducted local operations along the California coast between San Diego and San Francisco until she departed San Diego on 13 October, bound for Hawaii. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 7 November but returned to San Diego on the 18th and spent the remainder of 1949 as well as most of the following year on the west coast, conducting various training exercises. During that period, she also visited Portland, Vancouver, and Pearl Harbor. In June 1950, Volador embarked reserves at Treasure Island, Calif., and proceeded on a two-week reserve cruise to Hawaii. En route, the Korean War broke out; and the submarine spent two months training in Hawaiian waters before returning to San Diego for operations on the west coast that lasted into the summer of 1951.

Volador returned to San Diego in January 1952 and conducted local operations until early summer. She then spent three months in the Juan de Fuca Strait and the Puget Sound area before entering the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in October. During the five-month overhaul which followed, a new battery and an Askania automatic depth control system were installed. Upon her return to San Diego, Volador provided services to ASW surface units, aircraft, and the Fleet Sonar School and participated in type training, Exercise "Pacphibex," and hunter/killer exercises. She departed San Diego on 7 August 1953 and arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 15th, received briefings by members of the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, and the Commander, Submarines, Pacific staffs on 17 and 18 August and tested experimental sonar equipment at sea on 20 August.

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From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Volador II (SS-490)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.