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USS Pickerel (SS 524)

- decommissioned -

One of the TENCH - class submarines, the USS PICKEREL was the second ship in the Navy to bear the name. Laid down on February 8, 1944, work on her construction was discontinued after her launch on December 15, 1944 and her unfinished hulk remained on the ways. Construction was resumed almost 3 years later and the submarine was finished according to the Guppy II conversion program. In 1962, the PICKEREL also received the Guppy III conversion. Decommissioned on August 18, 1972, the submarine was loaned to Italy the same day.

General Characteristics as Guppy III:Keel laid: February 8, 1944
Launched: December 15, 1944
Commissioned: April 4, 1949
Decommissioned: August 18, 1972
Builder: Boston Naval Shipyard, Boston, Mass.
Propulsion system: three diesel engines (two main and one aux.), two electric motors
Propellers: two
Length: 322.2 feet (98.2 meters)
Beam: 27.2 feet (8.3 meters)
Draft: 15.4 feet (4.7 meters)
Displacement: Surfaced: approx. 2,000 tons     Submerged: approx. 2,870 tons
Speed: Surfaced: approx. 17 knots     Submerged: approx. 14 knots
Armament: ten 533 mm torpedo tubes (six forward, four aft)
Crew: 10 Officers, 71 Enlisted


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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS PICKEREL. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.


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History of USS PICKEREL:

USS PICKEREL was laid down by the Boston Naval Shipyard 8 February 1944; launched without christening ceremony 15 December 1944; sponsored by Mrs. John R. Moore; christened and commissioned at the Portsmouth Navy Shipyard, N.H., 4 April 1949, Lt. Comdr. Paul R. Schratz in command.

After sea trials, PICKEREL departed New London, Conn. 10 August, and headed for Hawaii via East and Gulf coast ports, and the Panama Canal and arrived Pearl Harbor 28 September where she joined SubDiv 11.

From 16 March to 5 April 1950, PICKEREL completed a 5,200 mile voyage from Hong Kong to Pearl Harbor in 21 days while completely submerged, probably the longest distance ever traveled by a submerged diesel-electric submarine.

During her first deployment in the Western Pacific in 1950, PICKEREL spent 4 months in the Korean War Zone, one of the first submarines to enter the Korean Conflict.

Returning to Pearl Harbor in the spring of 1951, PICKEREL operated in the Hawaiian area undergoing tests of maximum capabilities, and conducting intensive training until she returned to the Far East in July 1953.

Upon returning to Hawaii early in 1954, PICKEREL resumed service for our aircraft and surface anti-submarine forces there and, but for overhaul, continued this important duty until returning to the Western Pacific in June 1955. She returned to Hawaii 1 December.

PICKEREL alternated North Pacific with WestPac duty through 1963 with the exception of a conversion period during 1962 for Guppy modernization.

PICKEREL operated out of Pearl Harbor during 1964 until 28 December, when she departed enroute Yokosuka to begin a WestPac tour as a unit of the 7th Fleet. In the years that followed, she continued this pattern of alternating services in Hawaii with deployments in the Far East. In the fall of 1966, her duties in WestPac were broadened to include operations in the Vietnam combat zone on Yankee Station.

After a year in Hawaiian waters, PICKEREL headed west once more on 16 January 1968. She visited various ports of the Orient before returning to Yankee Station 8 May. Following service in the Combat Zone, she reached Pearl Harbor via Japan 8 July. Her home port was changed to San Diego 1 August and she headed for the West Coast 22 August.

Operating out of San Diego, the PICKEREL continued her service to the US Navy for the next two years until decommissioned 18 August 1972.


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after Guppy II conversion

after Guppy II conversion

after Guppy III conversion


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