USS Sabalo (SS-302)

Sabalo (SS-302) after conversion to a "Fleet Snorkel" type, post-1952.
History
Builder:	Cramp Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Laid down:	5 June 1943
Launched:	4 June 1944
Commissioned:	19 June 1945
Decommissioned:	7 August 1946
Recommissioned:	June 1951
Decommissioned:	1 July 1971
Struck:	1 July 1971
Fate:	Sunk as a target, 15 February 1973
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 8 in (95.00 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

USS Sabalo (SS-302), a Balao-class submarine, was the first submarine and second ship of the United States Navy to be named sabalo, another name for the tarpon, a large, silvery game fish of the herring group, found in the warmer parts of the Western Atlantic.

Sabalo (SS-302) was laid down on 5 June 1943 by Cramp Shipbuilding Co., Philadelphia; launched on 4 June 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Martha C. Oman, wife of Rear Admiral Charles M. Oman (Ret.), commander of the U S Naval Convalescent Hospital, Monroe, N.Y.; and commissioned on 19 June 1945 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Lt. Comdr. James Gold Andrews in command.

After trials in the Delaware River, Sabalo proceeded to the Submarine Base, New London, Conn., for shakedown and training. She operated locally from New London until June 1946 when she began preparations for inactivation. She decommissioned on 7 August at Portsmouth, N.H., and was placed in reserve in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, remaining there until recommissioning on 1 June 1951 at New London.

In August 1951, Sabalo departed New London for Pearl Harbor, her new home port. Arriving in September, she conducted local operations into February 1952. From 18 February to 28 September, she underwent conversion to a "Fleet Snorkel" type at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. This was a less-extensive alteration than the GUPPY conversion received by many World War II "Fleet boats" during the same general period. Sabalo was given a new streamlined sail, but retained her original hull form.