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USS Greenfish (SS-351)
Encyclopedia
USS Greenfish (SS-351), a Balao-class
submarine
, was a ship of the United States Navy
named for the greenfish
, one of various labroid fishes, Florida bluefish or ladyfish.
Greenfish (SS-351) was launched by the Electric Boat
Co., Groton, Conn., 21 December 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Thomas J. Doyle; and commissioned 7 June 1946, Comdr. R. M. Metcalf commanding.
Greenfishs shakedown cruise 22 July to 13 September 1946, took her to Barranquilla
, Colombia
; the Canal Zone
; Callao
, Peru
; and St. Thomas
, Virgin Islands
. Exercises out of New London
and in Chesapeake Bay
carried her through the year, and the early months of 1947 found Greenfish back in the Caribbean
for fleet exercises. On 11 February 1947 she effected one of the first transfers of personnel from an aircraft carrier
, , to a submarine by helicopter
.
Various exercises along the American coast and in the Caribbean occupied Greenfish until 8 January 1948, when she entered the Electric Boat Co. yards for a GUPPY II conversion. This included the installation of snorkel
ing equipment on Greenfish, enabling her to run her diesel engine
s while submerged, which required the enlargement of her "sail". In addition, more batteries were installed to increase her submerged speed and permit the ship to remain completely submerged for longer periods.
Returning to New London 21 August 1948, Greenfish sailed on her "second" shakedown cruise 1 September, with Rear Admiral James J. Fife, Commander, Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet
, aboard. She transited the Panama Canal
9 September and engaged in exercises at Balboa
before returning to New London 24 September.
The new GUPPY submarine was attached to the Pacific Fleet, and sailed for Pearl Harbor
23 October. She reached her new home 25 November 1948. With the exception of ASW and harbor defense exercises in Puget Sound
in 1950 and a subsequent Mare Island
overhaul, Greenfish operated out of Pearl Harbor on local exercises through 1951.
Departing Pearl Harbor 15 November 1951, Greenfish sailed to Yokosuka, Japan
, for Korean War
duty. After a patrol 31 January to 1 March 1952, She participated in exercises at Okinawa and then returned to Hawaii
2 June. Local and special operations filled her time until 5 November 1954, when she entered the Pearl Harbor Shipyard for another modernization overhaul.
Greenfish, overhaul completed 6 July 1955, sailed for deployment with the 7th Fleet 15 September and reached Yokosuka 29 September. From 19 October to 15 November she engaged in special operations, and then embarked on a tour of Southeast Asia
. Ports visited by Greenfish during her 2-month cruise included Manila
, Singapore
, Rangoon, where she was the first submarine ever to visit and was inspected by Burmese Prime Minister U Nu
, and Hong Kong
. After further exercises off Okinawa and Yokosuka, Greenfish returned to Pearl Harbor 13 March 1956.
The following 5 years fell into a pattern for Greenfish—local operations out of Pearl Harbor, special operations
, exercises along the American coast, and periodic overhauls. Greenfish entered Pearl Harbor Shipyard 15 December 1960 for a FRAM (Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization
) overhaul and extensive conversion to a GUPPY III class ship. This included cutting Greenfish in half and adding a 15 feet (5 m) section of hull to permit more batteries and other equipment.
Conversion completed, Greenfish departed 28 July 1961 for shakedown, operations at Pearl Harbor, and in December sailed to serve with the 7th Fleet. In addition to special operations, the submarine participated in various fleet and ASW exercises and visited several ports, including Hong Kong, Manila, and Okinawa. Returning to Pearl Harbor June 1962, Greenfish engaged in local operations until October, when the Cuban missile crisis
sent her to Japan
to strengthen the 7th Fleet. Upon return to Hawaii December 1962, she underwent a brief overhaul and then resumed her peace time schedule of local and special operations interspersed with training exercises.
Based at Pearl Harbor, she participated in various ASW exercises while maintaining the high tempo of training and readiness for her crew. From 30 March 1964 to 4 September she underwent overhaul; and, after a cruise to the Pacific Coast and back, Greenfish departed for the Far East 27 January 1965. She arrived Japan early in February and during the next 4 months operated with the 7th Fleet in waters from Japan to the Philippines
. She returned to Pearl Harbor 1 August, continued type training into 1966, and deployed once again to the Western Pacific 1 February 1966. She completed her duty with the 7th Fleet 1 July and returned to Hawaii later that month to resume readiness exercises out of Pearl Harbor. Into 1967 she continued to serve in the Pacific Fleet's submarine force.
, 19 December 1973, where she was renamed Amazonas (S-16), the eighth Brazilian Navy
ship to be named for the Amazon River
. She was struck 15 October 1992, originally to be transformed into a museum ship
at the centro Histórico da Marinha in Rio de Janeiro
. However, she was ultimately judged to be in too bad condition, and was scrapped in 2001.
Balao class submarine
The Balao class was a successful design of United States Navy submarine used during World War II, and with 122 units built, the largest class of submarines in the United States Navy. An improvement on the earlier Gato class, the boats had slight internal differences...
submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
, was a ship of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
named for the greenfish
Greenfish
Greenfish is an alternative common name for two different species of fish:* Murray cod, Maccullochella peelii peelii* Thalassoma ascensionis, also known as Ascension wrasseIt may also refer to:...
, one of various labroid fishes, Florida bluefish or ladyfish.
Greenfish (SS-351) was launched by the Electric Boat
Electric boat
While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail power and gasoline engines also remaining popular, boats powered by electricity have been used for over 120 years. Electric boats were very popular from the 1880s until the 1920s, when the internal combustion...
Co., Groton, Conn., 21 December 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Thomas J. Doyle; and commissioned 7 June 1946, Comdr. R. M. Metcalf commanding.
Greenfishs shakedown cruise 22 July to 13 September 1946, took her to Barranquilla
Barranquilla
Barranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
; the Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
; Callao
Callao
Callao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
; and St. Thomas
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...
, Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
. Exercises out of New London
Naval Submarine Base New London
Naval Submarine Base New London is the United States Navy's primary submarine base, the "Home of the Submarine Force", and "the Submarine Capital of the World".-History:...
and in Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
carried her through the year, and the early months of 1947 found Greenfish back in the Caribbean
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
for fleet exercises. On 11 February 1947 she effected one of the first transfers of personnel from an aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
, , to a submarine by helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
.
Submarine snorkel
A submarine snorkel is a device which allows a submarine to operate submerged while still taking in air from above the surface. Navy personnel often refer to it as the snort.-History:...
ing equipment on Greenfish, enabling her to run her diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
s while submerged, which required the enlargement of her "sail". In addition, more batteries were installed to increase her submerged speed and permit the ship to remain completely submerged for longer periods.
Returning to New London 21 August 1948, Greenfish sailed on her "second" shakedown cruise 1 September, with Rear Admiral James J. Fife, Commander, Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet
U.S. Atlantic Fleet
The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...
, aboard. She transited the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
9 September and engaged in exercises at Balboa
Balboa, Panama
Balboa is a district of Panama City, located at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.- History :The town of Balboa, founded by the United States during the construction of the Panama Canal, was named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the Spanish conquistador credited with discovering the Pacific Ocean...
before returning to New London 24 September.
The new GUPPY submarine was attached to the Pacific Fleet, and sailed for Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
23 October. She reached her new home 25 November 1948. With the exception of ASW and harbor defense exercises in Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
in 1950 and a subsequent Mare Island
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...
overhaul, Greenfish operated out of Pearl Harbor on local exercises through 1951.
Departing Pearl Harbor 15 November 1951, Greenfish sailed to Yokosuka, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, for Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
duty. After a patrol 31 January to 1 March 1952, She participated in exercises at Okinawa and then returned to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
2 June. Local and special operations filled her time until 5 November 1954, when she entered the Pearl Harbor Shipyard for another modernization overhaul.
Greenfish, overhaul completed 6 July 1955, sailed for deployment with the 7th Fleet 15 September and reached Yokosuka 29 September. From 19 October to 15 November she engaged in special operations, and then embarked on a tour of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
. Ports visited by Greenfish during her 2-month cruise included Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Rangoon, where she was the first submarine ever to visit and was inspected by Burmese Prime Minister U Nu
U Nu
For other people with the Burmese name Nu, see Nu .U Nu was a leading Burmese nationalist and political figure of the 20th century...
, and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. After further exercises off Okinawa and Yokosuka, Greenfish returned to Pearl Harbor 13 March 1956.
The following 5 years fell into a pattern for Greenfish—local operations out of Pearl Harbor, special operations
Special operations
Special operations are military operations that are considered "special" .Special operations are typically performed independently or in conjunction with conventional military operations. The primary goal is to achieve a political or military objective where a conventional force requirement does...
, exercises along the American coast, and periodic overhauls. Greenfish entered Pearl Harbor Shipyard 15 December 1960 for a FRAM (Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization
Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization
The Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization program of the United States Navy extended the lives of World War II-era destroyers by shifting their mission from a surface attack role to that of a submarine hunter...
) overhaul and extensive conversion to a GUPPY III class ship. This included cutting Greenfish in half and adding a 15 feet (5 m) section of hull to permit more batteries and other equipment.
Conversion completed, Greenfish departed 28 July 1961 for shakedown, operations at Pearl Harbor, and in December sailed to serve with the 7th Fleet. In addition to special operations, the submarine participated in various fleet and ASW exercises and visited several ports, including Hong Kong, Manila, and Okinawa. Returning to Pearl Harbor June 1962, Greenfish engaged in local operations until October, when the Cuban missile crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
sent her to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to strengthen the 7th Fleet. Upon return to Hawaii December 1962, she underwent a brief overhaul and then resumed her peace time schedule of local and special operations interspersed with training exercises.
Based at Pearl Harbor, she participated in various ASW exercises while maintaining the high tempo of training and readiness for her crew. From 30 March 1964 to 4 September she underwent overhaul; and, after a cruise to the Pacific Coast and back, Greenfish departed for the Far East 27 January 1965. She arrived Japan early in February and during the next 4 months operated with the 7th Fleet in waters from Japan to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. She returned to Pearl Harbor 1 August, continued type training into 1966, and deployed once again to the Western Pacific 1 February 1966. She completed her duty with the 7th Fleet 1 July and returned to Hawaii later that month to resume readiness exercises out of Pearl Harbor. Into 1967 she continued to serve in the Pacific Fleet's submarine force.
Brazilian submarine Amazonas (S-16)
Greenfish was decommissioned, struck from the US Naval Register 29 October 1973, and transferred (sold) under terms of the Security Assistance Program to BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, 19 December 1973, where she was renamed Amazonas (S-16), the eighth Brazilian Navy
Brazilian Navy
The Brazilian Navy is a branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible for conducting naval operations. It is the largest navy in Latin America...
ship to be named for the Amazon River
Amazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...
. She was struck 15 October 1992, originally to be transformed into a museum ship
Museum ship
A museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...
at the centro Histórico da Marinha in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. However, she was ultimately judged to be in too bad condition, and was scrapped in 2001.
External links
- http://home.earthlink.net/~drobrien/decommissioning.html