USS Halfbeak (SS-352)

History
United States
Name:	USS Halfbeak
Builder:	Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down:	6 July 1944 n
Launched:	19 February 1946
Commissioned:	22 July 1946
Decommissioned:	1 July 1971
Struck:	1 July 1971
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 13 June 1972
General characteristics
Class and type:	Balao-class diesel-electric submarine
Displacement:	1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced 2,424 tons (2,463 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 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-⅛ 10-cylinder opposed piston diesel engines driving electrical generators 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries 4 × high-speed Elliott 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 (38 km/h) surfaced 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged
Range:	11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Endurance:	48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 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 (93.6 m)
Beam:	27 ft 4 in (7.4 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 (20.7 mph; 33.3 km/h) maximum 13.5 knots (15.5 mph; 25.0 km/h) cruising Submerged: 16.0 knots (18.4 mph; 29.6 km/h) for ½ hour 9.0 knots (10.4 mph; 16.7 km/h) snorkeling 3.5 knots (4.0 mph; 6.5 km/h) cruising
Range:	15,000 nm (28,000 km) surfaced at 11 knots (13 mph; 20 km/h)
Endurance:	48 hours at 4 knots (5 mph; 7 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  (six forward, four aft) all guns removed

USS Halfbeak (SS-352), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the halfbeak, a garlike fish with a beak formed by an extension of the lower jaw, found in warmer seas.

Halfbeak was launched 19 February 1946 by the Electric Boat Co., Groton, Conn., sponsored by Mrs. William Craig; and commissioned 22 July 1946, Commander Evan T. Shepard in command.

After shakedown in the Caribbean and along the Latin American coast to the Canal Zone, Ecuador, and Colombia, Halfbeak spent the next 3 years in training operations and fleet exercises out of New London, Conn., where she was part of SubRon 8. Entering the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard 12 September 1949, Halfbeak was converted to a GUPPY II type submarine. Fitted with a snorkel to enable her to stay submerged for long periods of time and distinguished by a greatly streamlined superstructure, Halfbeak left Portsmouth 13 January 1950 to work with the Research and Development Group at New London. While conducting tests on special underwater sound equipment, she made a cruise to English waters, operating off Jan Mayen Island, in the winter of 1951.

Halfbeak was engaged in further Caribbean exercises until 10 November 1954, when she sailed for her first Mediterranean cruise. Having visited Gibraltar, Naples, Marseilles, Lisbon, and Valencia, Spain, the submarine returned to New London 2 February 1955. A similar cruise in 1956 was punctuated by the Suez Crisis, and Halfbeak remained in the eastern Med operating with the 6th Fleet until January 1957 helping to maintain the peace in that crucial region.

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Wikipedia