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.

History
United States
Name	USS Cubera
Builder	Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut[1]
Laid down	11 May 1944[1]
Launched	17 June 1945[1]
Commissioned	19 December 1945[1]
Decommissioned	5 January 1972[1]
Stricken	5 January 1972[2]
Identification	SS-347
Fate	Transferred to Venezuela, 5 January 1972[1]
Venezuela
Name	ARV Tiburon
Acquired	1972
Identification	S-12
Fate	Scrapped, 1989
General characteristics
Class and type	Balao-class diesel-electric submarine[2]
Displacement	1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced[2] 2,424 tons (2,463 t) submerged[2]
Length	311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2]
Beam	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2]
Draft	16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum[2]
Propulsion	4 × General Motors Model 16-278A V16 diesel engines driving electrical generators 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears 2 × propellers 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged
Speed	20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced[3] 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged[3]
Range	11,000 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 depth	400 ft (120 m)[3]
Complement	10 officers, 70–71 enlisted[3]
Armament	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 forward, 4 aft 24 torpedoes[4] 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun[4] Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
General characteristics (Guppy II)
Class and type	none
Displacement	1,870 tons (1,900 t) surfaced[5] 2,440 tons (2,480 t) submerged[5]
Length	307 ft (93.6 m)[6]
Beam	27 ft 4 in (7.4 m)[6]
Draft	17 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]
Range	15,000 nm (28,000 km) surfaced at 11 knots (13 mph; 20 km/h)[6]
Endurance	48 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	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes  (six forward, four aft)[6] all guns removed[5]

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.