BGuthrie Photos: MD -- Baltimore -- Submarine Torsk (Baltimore Maritime Museum)

MD -- Baltimore -- Submarine Torsk (Baltimore Maritime Museum):

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[1] TORSK_041205_001.JPG	[2] TORSK_041205_018.JPG	[3] TORSK_041205_033.JPG
[4] TORSK_041205_039.JPG	[5] TORSK_041205_048.JPG	[6] TORSK_041205_062.JPG
[7] TORSK_041205_084.JPG	[8] TORSK_041205_094.JPG	[9] TORSK_041205_112.JPG
[10] TORSK_041205_115.JPG	[11] TORSK_041205_123.JPG	[12] TORSK_041205_127.JPG
[13] TORSK_041205_140.JPG	[14] TORSK_041205_142.JPG	[15] TORSK_041205_168.JPG
[16] TORSK_041205_187.JPG	[17] TORSK_041205_197.JPG	[18] TORSK_041205_202.JPG
[19] TORSK_041205_212.JPG	[20] TORSK_041205_230.JPG	[21] TORSK_041205_231.JPG
[22] TORSK_041205_235.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. TORSK_041205_018.JPG: After Torpedo Room. This compartment, known as the After Torpedo Room, was one of two places from which torpedoes -- the submarine's primary weapons -- were launched. Four torpedo tubes are located in the after portion of the compartment. When Torsk was operational, eight torpedoes would have been stored here -- one is each tube, and four spares on racks. Twelve men worked here in shifts. The After Torpedo Room also functioned as a berthing (sleeping) space for twelve to eighteen crewmen. Notice the remaining bunks folded against the upper bulkhead.
2. TORSK_041205_039.JPG: The little hatch on the ceiling is an outer hatch. Escape Trunk. This small compartment was used as an emergency exit from the submarine while submerged. Able to accommodate 4 men at a time, the trunk would be sealed from inside the submarine and flooded with sea water to equalize the pressure. The men would open the outer hatch and escape from the submarine. This procedure would be repeated until the entire crew had escaped.
3. TORSK_041205_112.JPG: Forward Engine Room. The forward engine room contains number 1 and 2 main diesel engines, as well as Torsk's evaporators. The evaporators are located in the forward part of the compartment and were used to distill fresh water from sea water. They produced 1,000 gallons of fresh water per day needed for drinking, cooking, watering the batteries and cooling the engines. For showering and washing clothes, the crew could use condensate off the air compressors located below this deck.
4. TORSK_041205_202.JPG: Sonar Shack. The Sonar "Shack" contains equipment used for detecting and tracking surface ships and submarines. It has been restored to represent its 1960's appearance. When Torsk was operational, two operators would have manned this room while underway. Sonar is an acronym for Sound, Navigation, and Ranging, and there were two types used by Torsk's sonar operators: active and passive. Active sonar, characterized by the distinctive "ping" sound that most people associate with sonar, was used for navigation, and sometimes for determining the range to a target just prior to actually firing a torpedo. It was not often used under combat conditions because it quickly gave away the presence and position of the submarine. The active sonar console is located just inside the door to the left. Passive sonar was used at all times when submerged. Using microphones mounted near the bow of the submarine, passive sonar could detect and track the sounds created by ships and other submarines. Very accurate target rangers and bearings were obtained by carefully plotting the target's position over a period of time. The passive sonar console is located in the center and has a "steering wheel" used to change the listening bearing. The sound heads, containing the microphones, were located in a "chin dome," fitted under the bow, as far forward as possible to reduce the noise interference from Torsk's own engines and propellers. The sonar operators were in constant communication with the conning tower and the tape recorders were always running to record target sounds for immediate and future analysis.
Wikipedia Description: USS Torsk (SS-423)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The USS Torsk (SS-423) is docked at the Baltimore Maritime Museum and is one of several Tench Class submarines still located inside the United States. Nicknamed the "Galloping Ghost of the Japanese Coast," the vessel is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the torsk, a food fish of the North Atlantic.

Her keel was laid down on 7 June 1944 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard. She was launched on 6 September 1944 sponsored by Mrs. Allen B. Reed, and commissioned on 16 December 1944 with Commander Bafford E. Lewellen in command.

Completed on the last day of 1944, Torsk trained out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Newport, Rhode Island, and New London, Connecticut, until 11 February 1945, when she headed for Florida. On 16 February, the submarine arrived at Port Everglades, Florida, where she provided services for antisubmarine research. She departed that Florida port on 20 February, transited the Panama Canal, and reached Hawaii on 23 March.

After a repair and training period, she got underway from Pearl Harbor for her first war patrol. Torsk paused briefly at Guam en route to an area off Kii Suido which she reached on 11 May and began lifeguard duty. Air contacts were few in this period, and the submarine found no opportunity to conduct rescue operations. Toward midnight on 11 May, she set course for her patrol area off the northeastern coast of Honshu. She arrived there on 13 May and, for two days, attempted to contact other members of the wolf pack, "Lewellen's Looters." On 16 May, she made rendezvous with submarines Sand Lance (SS-381) and Cero (SS-225). For more than a fortnight, their careful coverage of the east coast of Honshu turned up nothing more interesting than naval mines.

On 2 June, while patrolling between Honshu and Hokkaido, Torsk came upon a small coastal minelayer. The submarine fired six torpedoes—which the small vessel avoided by maneuvering—and then dove and rigged for depth charges which did not materialize. Torsk had another disappointing encounter on 4 June when, while patrolling off Kobe Saki, she fired four torpedoes at a 700-ton freighter without scoring. The following day, she set her course homeward, stopped at Midway Island on 11 June, and returned to Pearl Harbor on 16 June.

After refitting and the installation of new equipment, the submarine got underway for her second war patrol on 17 July. She spent the first two days of August at Guam and set her course for the Sea of Japan.

She passed through the minefields of Tsushima Strait on 10 August and, on the morning of 11 August, rescued seven Japanese merchant seamen who had survived the sinking of the Koue Maru some four days before. Early that afternoon, the submarine entered her patrol area and, on the following morning off Dogo Island, Torsk made a submerged periscope attack which sank a small coastal freighter.

On 13 August, she patrolled off Ando Saki and, after sighting a number of fishing boats during the morning, sighted another small freighter which she promptly sank. Later the same day, she made an unsuccessful attack on a cargo ship as it entered Wakasa Wan; then dodged through a 75-boat fishing fleet, and outdistanced the maru's escort.

Off Amarubi Saki on the morning of 14 August, Torsk sighted a medium cargo ship and took up the chase. A 745-ton Kaibokan-class patrol escort vessel accompanied the freighter to seaward, presenting the submarine with a tempting target. At 1035, as the freighter and her escort approached Kasumi Ko, Torsk launched one of the new experimental Mark 28 torpedoes at the escorting ship. Minutes later, the "fish" found its mark; an explosion bent the stern of the frigate up to a 30 degree angle, and shortly thereafter the target sank. As the freighter entered the harbor half an hour later, Torsk attempted to sink her but was unsuccessful, possibly because the torpedoes struck undetected reefs near the mouth of the harbor.

Around noon, another frigate appeared, apparently a reinforcement which had been called in. Continuing her aggressive action, Torsk fired a Mark 28 torpedo at the frigate which had already detected the submarine's presence. Commander Lewellen then initiated deep submergence procedures and ordered the crew to rig for silent running. After a tense five minutes, she reached 400 feet (120 m) and there she launched another torpedo, this time the new acoustic Mark 27. Almost immediately, a loud explosion announced that the first torpedo had found its mark, and a minute later a second explosion sounded, followed by strong breaking up noises. The secret new torpedoes had proven their worth in battle and Torsk was credited, not only with two enemy warships, but also with sinking the last Japanese warship sunk in World War II. Held down by enemy planes and patrol vessels, the submarine remained submerged more than seven hours. Then, she surfaced and headed for the Noto peninsula.

On 15 August, following four highly successful days of aggressive patrolling, Torsk received word of the cessation of hostilities. She continued her patrol in the Sea of Japan, conducting visual and photo surveillance and destroying floating mines. On 31 August, what was thought to be a torpedo wake was sighted, an indicator that not everyone had heard the news of the war's ending.

The submarine set her course for the Mariana Islands on 1 September, passed through Tsushima Straits on 3 September, and arrived at Guam on 9 September, successfully completing her second war patrol.

She departed the Marianas on the next day, proceeded via Pearl Harbor and the Canal Zone, and arrived at New London in mid-October. For the next seven years, she operated out of that port serving as a training ship, participating in exercises and tests, and occasionally making naval reserve training cruises. In June 1949, she was assigned to Submarine Squadron 2; and; in the summer of 1950, she was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea. The ship returned to New London in the fall for fleet exercises and, the following year, extended her operations into the Caribbean Sea.

Early in 1952, she completed her conversion to a Fleet Snorkel submarine and was deployed again to the Mediterranean that summer. Returning on 27 November, she continued operations out of New London ranging from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Havana, Cuba, as she trained prospective submarine personnel and laid exercise mine fields. In 1955, she was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 6 at Norfolk, Virginia. There, her duties included services to aircraft and surface ships to help them hone their skills in antisubmarine warfare. She made frequent Caribbean voyages and participated in Operation "Springboard." In June 1959, she proceeded via the Saint Lawrence Seaway to the Great Lakes, visited various ports on Lake Ontario and Lake Michigan, then returned to the Norfolk operating area in mid-August.

In the early 1960s, she made Mediterranean deployments; joined Commonwealth countries in Exercise "New Broom X", and continued her duties in training antisubmarine forces in the Atlantic. During the Cuban Missile Crisis in the fall of 1962, she patrolled in support of the blockade of that Caribbean island.

On 4 March 1968 the veteran submarine was decommissioned and, following modifications at the Boston Navy Yard, was assigned to the Washington Navy Yard for use in training reserves. Torsk operated out of Washington until 1971 and, on 15 December of that year, was struck from the Naval Vessel Register. On 26 September 1972, she was turned over to the state of Maryland to be used as a museum ship in the Inner Harbor at Baltimore, Maryland. It is currently part of the Baltimore Maritime Museum.

Torsk received two battle stars for World War II service and the Navy Commendation Medal for her service during the Cuban Missile Crisis. She set the all-time record of career dives, at 11,884. She is also the only submarine converted in the Fleet Snorkel program that has the original snorkel.
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