USS Cubera

USS Cubera (SS-347), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the cubera, a large fish of the snapper family found in the West Indies.

Cubera (SS-347), after GUPPY modernization.
History
United States
NameUSS Cubera
BuilderElectric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut[1]
Laid down11 May 1944[1]
Launched17 June 1945[1]
Commissioned19 December 1945[1]
Decommissioned5 January 1972[1]
Stricken5 January 1972[2]
IdentificationSS-347
FateTransferred to Venezuela, 5 January 1972[1]
Venezuela
NameARV Tiburon
Acquired1972
IdentificationS-12
FateScrapped, 1989
General characteristics
Class and typeBalao-class diesel-electric submarine[2]
Displacement
  • 1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced[2]
  • 2,424 tons (2,463 t) submerged[2]
Length311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2]
Beam27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2]
Draft16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum[2]
Propulsion
Speed
  • 20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced[3]
  • 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged[3]
Range11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[3]
Endurance
  • 48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged[3]
  • 75 days on patrol
Test depth400 ft (120 m)[3]
Complement10 officers, 70–71 enlisted[3]
Armament
General characteristics (Guppy II)
Class and typenone
Displacement
  • 1,870 tons (1,900 t) surfaced[5]
  • 2,440 tons (2,480 t) submerged[5]
Length307 ft (93.6 m)[6]
Beam27 ft 4 in (7.4 m)[6]
Draft17 ft (5.2 m)[6]
Propulsion
  • Snorkel added[5]
  • Batteries upgraded to GUPPY type, capacity expanded to 504 cells (1 × 184 cell, 1 × 68 cell, and 2 × 126 cell batteries)[5]
  • 4 × high-speed electric motors replaced with 2 × low-speed direct drive electric motors[5]
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[5]
Range15,000 nm (28,000 km) surfaced at 11 knots (13 mph; 20 km/h)[6]
Endurance48 hours at 4 knots (5 mph; 7 km/h) submerged[6]
Complement
  • 9–10 officers
  • 5 petty officers
  • 70 enlisted men[6]
Sensors and
processing systems
  • WFA active sonar
  • JT passive sonar
  • Mk 106 torpedo fire control system[6]
Armament

Cubera (SS-347) was launched 17 June 1945 by Electric Boat Co., Groton, Conn.; sponsored by Mrs. J. Taber; commissioned 19 December 1945 and reported to the Atlantic Fleet.

After shakedown training off New London, Cubera arrived at Key West, Fla., 19 March 1946. She tested sonar equipment, provided services to experimental antisubmarine warfare development projects in the Florida Straits, and joined in fleet exercises until 4 July 1947 when she sailed to Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for an extensive GUPPY II modernization.

Returning to Key West 9 March 1948 Cubera continued to operate locally out of this port, as well as taking part in fleet exercises in the Caribbean and Atlantic until 3 July 1952 when she arrived at Norfolk, her new home port.

Cubera appeared in Ray Harryhausen's It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955), playing an "atomic sub" used to dispatch the film's giant octopus.

Through 1957 Cubera conducted local operations, and participated in fleet exercises in the Caribbean, as well as cruising to Sydney, Nova Scotia, in June 1955. During 1959 and 1960, she was assigned to Task Force Alfa, a force conducting constant experiments to improve antisubmarine warfare techniques. With this group she cruised the western Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Bermuda.

ARV Tiburon (S-12)

Cubera was decommissioned and sold under the Security Assistance Program to Venezuela 5 January 1972. The Venezuelan Navy renamed her ARV Tiburon (S-12) ("Tiburon" means shark in Spanish). She was subsequently scrapped by Venezuela in 1989.

References

  1. Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
  2. Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 275–280. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
  3. U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
  4. U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
  5. Friedman, Norman (1994). U.S. Submarines Since 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 11–43. ISBN 1-55750-260-9.
  6. U.S. Submarines Since 1945 pp. 242


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