USS Trumpetfish (SS-425)

USS Trumpetfish after Greater Underwater Propulsive Power Program (GUPPY) conversion.
History
United States
Name:	USS Trumpetfish (SS-425)
Builder:	Cramp Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Laid down:	23 August 1943
Launched:	13 May 1945
Commissioned:	29 January 1946
Decommissioned:	15 October 1973
Struck:	15 October 1973
Fate:	Transferred to Brazil, 15 October 1973
Brazil
Name:	Goias (S-15)
Acquired:	15 October 1973
Struck:	16 April 1990
General characteristics (As completed)
Class and type:	Balao-class diesel-electric submarine
Displacement:	1,526 long tons (1,550 t) surfaced 2,424 long 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 2 × low-speed direct-drive Elliott electric motors two propellers 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged
Speed:	20.25 knots (37.50 km/h) surfaced 8.75 knots (16.21 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 feet (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)
Displacement:	1,870 long tons (1,900 t) surfaced 2,440 long 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)
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 ½ hour 9.0 knots (16.7 km/h) snorkeling 3.5 knots (6.5 km/h) cruising
Range:	15,000 nautical miles (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 inches (530 mm) torpedo tubes  (six forward, four aft) all guns removed
General characteristics (Guppy III)
Displacement:	1,975 long tons (2,007 t) surfaced 2,450 long tons (2,490 t) submerged
Length:	321 ft (98 m)
Beam:	27 ft 4 in (8.33 m)
Draft:	17 ft (5.2 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 ½ hour 6.2 knots (11.5 km/h) snorkeling 3.7 knots (6.9 km/h) cruising
Range:	15,900 nautical miles (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 Trumpetfish (SS-425), a Balao-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for trumpetfish, any of several fishes so-called for their deep, compressed body and long, tubular snout. Her keel was laid down on 23 August 1943 at Philadelphia by the Cramp Shipbuilding Company. She was launched on 13 May 1945 sponsored by Mrs. Oswald S. Colclough, and commissioned on 29 January 1946 with Lieutenant Commander Raphael C. Benitez in command.

A combined shakedown and goodwill cruise to ports in the Caribbean Sea in the early spring of 1946 preceded the submarine's westward cruise to Pearl Harbor. Highlighting the ship's training operations in Hawaiian waters was her intentional torpedoing of the large I-400-class submarines which had been captured at the end of World War II.

Trumpetfish returned to the East Coast for local operations out of New London, Connecticut, and, late in 1946, was briefly based at Annapolis to conduct training cruises for United States Naval Academy midshipmen. In the summer of 1947, as the ship underwent a Greater Underwater Propulsive Power Program (GUPPY) conversion, her hull was streamlined, a snorkel system was added, and higher capacity batteries were installed. The net result of the conversion enhanced the ship's offensive capabilities and increased her maximum submerged speed.

Attached to Submarine Squadron 4, based at Key West, Florida, Trumpetfish conducted local operations and training exercises off the East Coast. In September 1953, she participated in NATO Exercise "Mariner" and then was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea with the Sixth Fleet.