World War II Navy Submarine
Posted on Ship
maritime museum based in the Baltimore Inner Harbor, have an opportunity to tour the U.S. Navy submarine that fired the final torpedoes and sank the last two Japanese ships in World War II.
The U.S.S. Torsk, commissioned in the last days of the war, now stands guard next to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. The historic naval submarine, with its fiercely-painted bow, offers maritime history buffs the chance to see for themselves what it would have been like serving on the cramped 1940s-era vessel, where the only way to pass someone in a corridor was to turn sideways.
In fact, visitors to the Torsk may encounter former seamen who once served in the crews of the Torsk and other Navy fleet submarines. These submarine crew members, all volunteers who underwent incredibly arduous testing before they were accepted, represented a tiny fraction of Navy enlistment, but were responsible for sinking more than half of the Japanese tonnage destroyed during World War II, according to the Navy.
The U.S.S. Torsk, one of two surviving Tench Class submarines, was built and launched at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard within the last six months of 1944, and was commissioned on Dec. 16, 1944, as the Battle of the Bulge raged in the Ardennes.
The U.S. Navy named its World War II submarines after fish and swimming mammals; the Torsk got its name from a type of pale yellow-and-white codfish found in great numbers in the North Atlantic ocean.
Initially deployed to the Pacific, where it operated from Pearl Harbor, the Torsk accomplished two patrols off Japan during early and mid-1945, operating with three other U.S. Navy submarines. By this time in the war, there were few targets left to attack, and although the submarines contacted two small Japanese ships, they did not sink them.
It was while patrolling in the Sea of Japan on Aug. 12, 1945 that the Torsk saw her first war action, firing two torpedoes at a small freighter but failing to sink the ship. The next day, the Torsk finally sank her first vessel, a small cargo ship named the Kaiho Maru.
And on Aug. 14, 1945, she sank two more small coastal defense ships, making the Torsk the last combat vessel to fire torpedoes and sink ships in World War II. The order to cease fire was issued to all U.S. forces on Aug. 15, 1945.
After World War II ended, the U.S.S. Torsk returned to the United States and was assigned as a submarine training ship at the U.S. Navy’s Submarine School in New London, Conn. There, she made dives several times each day as she trained enlisted men and officers for submarine duty.
In late 1955, the Torsk was modified to allow her to participate in testing of the Regulus missile, a radio-controlled pilotless aircraft that could carry either nuclear or conventional armament. The submarine didn’t carry the missile; instead, she carried radio equipment to control the missile, and was positioned along its flight path so that she could control the missile while it was in the area.
The Torsk also played a role in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, during which she participated in the blockade off Cuba and sent boarding parties to inspect Soviet merchant ships. She was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal for her work in the crisis.
The submarine was decommissioned in 1968, and moved to Baltimore to serve as a museum and memorial in 1972.
Today, the U.S.S. Torsk is berthed in the Baltimore Inner Harbor, surrounded by Baltimore hotels, shops, restaurants and other attractions, including the historic Coast Guard Cutter Taney, historic Chesapeake Lightship, also a part of Historic Ships in Baltimore.
Visitors to the Torsk can look in on the torpedo rooms, the navigation station, crew mess and berthing areas, and the engine room, and can get a feel for the very cramped quarters in which 80 men spent weeks at a time. When a former submarine crew member is onboard to answer questions, visitors can hear first-hand what it was like to serve on a vessel like the Torsk.
Historic Ships executive director Christopher Rowsom said in an email interview that the Torsk Volunteer Association is on board every Saturday morning working on maintenance and restoration projects, and members are happy to answer questions.