USS Clamagore (SS-343)

USS Clamagore (SS-343), some time after her GUPPY conversion, c. post 1948.
History
United States
Name:	Clamagore
Namesake:	Clamagore
Builder:	Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down:	16 March 1944
Launched:	25 February 1945
Sponsored by:	Miss M. J. Jacobs
Commissioned:	28 June 1945
Decommissioned:	12 June 1973
Struck:	27 June 1975
Status:	Museum ship at Patriot's Point Naval & Maritime Museum, Charleston, South Carolina since 1981
Badge:
General characteristics (World War II)
Class and type:	Balao-class diesel-electric submarine
Displacement:	1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced 2,424 tons (2,460 t) submerged
Length:	311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)
Beam:	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)
Draft:	16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum
Propulsion:	4 × General Motors Model 16-278A V16 diesel engines driving electrical generators 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears two propellers 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged
Speed:	20.25 knots (37 km/h) surfaced 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged
Range:	11,000 nm (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Endurance:	48 hours at 2 knots (4 km/h) submerged 75 days on patrol
Test depth:	400 ft (120 m)
Complement:	10 officers, 70–71 enlisted
Armament:	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 forward, 4 aft 24 torpedoes 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
General characteristics (Guppy II)
Class and type:	none
Displacement:	1,870 tons (1,900 t) surfaced 2,440 tons (2,480 t) submerged
Length:	307 ft (94 m)
Beam:	27 ft 4 in (8.33 m)
Draft:	17 ft (5.2 m)
Propulsion:	Snorkel added Batteries upgraded to GUPPY type, capacity expanded to 504 cells (1 × 184 cell, 1 × 68 cell, and 2 × 126 cell batteries) 4 × high-speed electric motors replaced with 2 × low-speed direct drive electric motors
Speed:	Surfaced: 18.0 knots (33.3 km/h) maximum 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h) cruising Submerged: 16.0 knots (29.6 km/h) for  1⁄2 hour 9.0 knots (16.7 km/h) snorkeling 3.5 knots (6.5 km/h) cruising
Range:	15,000 nm (28,000 km) surfaced at 11 knots (20 km/h)
Endurance:	48 hours at 4 knots (7.4 km/h) submerged
Complement:	9–10 officers 5 petty officers 70 enlisted men
Sensors and processing systems:	WFA active sonar JT passive sonar Mk 106 torpedo fire control system
Armament:	10 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (6 forward, 4 aft) all guns removed
General characteristics (Guppy III)
Class and type:	none
Displacement:	1,975 tons (2,007 t) surfaced 2,450 tons (2,489 t) submerged
Length:	321 ft (98 m)
Speed:	Surfaced: 17.2 knots (31.9 km/h) maximum 12.2 knots (22.6 km/h) cruising Submerged: 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h) for  1⁄2 hour 6.2 knots (11.5 km/h) snorkeling 3.7 knots (6.9 km/h) cruising
Range:	15,900 nm (29,400 km) surfaced at 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h)
Endurance:	36 hours at 3 knots (5.6 km/h) submerged
Complement:	8–10 officers 5 petty officers 70-80 enlisted men
Sensors and processing systems:	BQS-4 active search sonar BQR-2B passive search sonar BQG-4 passive attack sonar
USS Clamagore (Submarine)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
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Location	Patriot's Point, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina
Coordinates	32°47′22.56″N 79°54′27.89″W / 32.7896000°N 79.9077472°W / 32.7896000; -79.9077472Coordinates: 32°47′22.56″N 79°54′27.89″W / 32.7896000°N 79.9077472°W / 32.7896000; -79.9077472
Built	1963
Architect	Electric Boat Works
NRHP Reference #	89001229
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	29 June 1989
Designated NHL	29 June 1989

USS Clamagore (SS-343) is a Balao-class submarine, presently a museum ship at the Patriot's Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Charleston, South Carolina. Built in 1945 for the United States Navy, she was still in training when World War II ended. She was named for the clamagore or blue parrotfish, Scarus coeruleus, found in the West Indies and along the Atlantic coast as far north as Maryland. A National Historic Landmark, she is the only known surviving example of a GUPPY type submarine.

Clamagore was built by Electric Boat Co. in Groton, Connecticut near the end of World War II. She was launched on 25 February 1945 and sponsored by Miss Mary Jane Jacobs, daughter of Vice Admiral Randall Jacobs, USN, Chief of Naval Personnel and commissioned on 28 June 1945, with Commander S.C. Loomis, Jr., taking command.

Clamagore was first assigned to Key West, and reported there on 5 September 1945. She operated off Key West with various fleet units and with the Fleet Sonar School, voyaging on occasion to Cuba and the Virgin Islands until 5 December 1947, when she entered Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for GUPPY II modernization and installation of snorkel.