USS Atule (SS-403)
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | USS Atule (SS-403) |
| Builder: | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine |
| Laid down: | 2 December 1943 |
| Launched: | 6 March 1944 |
| Commissioned: | 21 June 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 8 September 1947 |
| Recommissioned: | 8 March 1951 |
| Decommissioned: | 6 April 1970 |
| Struck: | 15 August 1973 |
| Fate: | Transferred to Peru on 31 July 1974 |
 Peru
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| Name: | BAP Pacocha (SS-48) |
| Acquired: | 31 July 1974 |
| Fate: | Rammed and sunk by a fishing trawler on 26 August 1988 |
| General characteristics (World War II) | |
| Class and type: | Balao-class diesel-electric submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced, 2,391 tons (2,429 t) submerged |
| Length: | 311 ft (3,730 in) |
| Beam: | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m) |
| Draft: | 16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 20.25 kn (37.50 km/h) surfaced, 8.75 kn (16.21 km/h) submerged |
| Range: | 11,000 nmi (20,000 km) @ 10 kn (19 km/h) surfaced |
| Endurance: | 48 hours @ 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged, 75 days on patrol |
| Test depth: | 400 ft (120 m) |
| Complement: | 10 officers, 70–71 enlisted |
| Armament: |
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| General characteristics (Guppy IA) | |
| Class and type: | none |
| Displacement: | 1,830 tons (1,859 t) surfaced, 2,440 tons (2,479 t) submerged |
| Length: | 307 ft 7 in (93.75 m) |
| Beam: | 27 ft 4 in (8.33 m) |
| Draft: | 17 ft (5.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | Submarine snorkel added, Batteries upgraded to Sargo standard II |
| Speed: |
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| Range: | 17,000 nmi (31,000 km) @ 11 kn (20 km/h) surfaced |
| Endurance: | 36 hours @ 3 kn (5.6 km/h) submerged |
| Complement: | 10 officers, 5 petty officers, 64–69 enlisted men |
| Armament: | 10 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (six forward, four aft), all guns removed |
USS Atule (SS/AGSS-403), a Balao-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the atule.
Her keel was laid down on 25 November 1943 by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. Atule was launched on 6 March 1944 sponsored by Miss Elizabeth Louise Kauffman, the daughter of Rear Admiral James L. Kauffman, and commissioned on 21 June 1944, Commander John H. Maurer in command.
Following a month of shakedown training along the east coast, the submarine departed New London, Connecticut, and headed south to join the action in the Pacific. During a 15-day stopover at the Fleet Sound School in Key West, Florida, she sharpened her diving skills and fighting techniques. After transiting the Panama Canal, Atule steamed to Pearl Harbor with Jallao, training intensively en route to reach a peak of combat readiness. Upon her arrival at Pearl Harbor, Atule underwent voyage repairs and torpedo training into October.
On 9 October, Atule departed Pearl Harbor on her first war patrol in company with Pintado and Jallao. Under the command of Commander Bernard Clarey in Pintado, the three boats formed a wolf pack known as "Clarey's Crushers". Atule trained with Jallao and Pintado as they traveled westward. On 11 October, Atule picked up two radar contacts, tracked them, and maneuvered around them before identifying the contacts as Plaice and Thresher. The pack arrived at Tanapag Harbor, Saipan on 21 October, refueled, made minor repairs, and departed early the next day. On 25 October, the wolf pack made its first score when Jallao hit light cruiser Tama and sent her to the bottom. That Japanese warship already had been damaged in the Battle of Cape Engaño and was part of the broken Japanese carrier-centered fleet retiring to the north. The wolf pack then spent two more days vainly searching for enemy vessels crippled during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The boats then set course for their patrol sectors in Luzon Strait and the South China Sea.
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Wikipedia