Submarine History

USS PORPOISE (SS-7) was laid down at Crescent Shipyard in Elizabeth, NJ, on 13 December 1900, just eight months after the United States Submarine Force was born. After her commissioning on 19 September 1903, PORPOISE experimented with the launching of [...]

On 10 January 1944, USS SKIPJACK (SS-184) headed out on her ninth war patrol in the central Pacific. On the morning of 25 January she came upon a convoy of two merchant ships and a destroyer. SKIPJACK’s crew tracked the [...]

On 11 February 1989, USS PASADENA (SSN-752) was commissioned. Little did her builders know that the boat’s crew would consist of more than just human beings. What follows is a newspaper article, written by JO2 Peter Hyde, that appeared in [...]

In 1937, a group of Americans created an organization called Foster Parents Plan for Children in Spain to assist youngsters affected by the Spanish Civil War. As conflict spread across Europe in the 1940s, the group changed its name to [...]

The keel of USS S-28 (SS-133), which would see action in World War II, was laid down in April of 1919, just months after the end of the first Great War. Commissioned on 13 December 1923, she spent most of [...]

Sixty-three years ago this month, in July of 1951, the United States Congress authorized the construction of a revolutionary new vessel: the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine. The contract was awarded the following month, to General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, [...]

As we prepare to celebrate the 238th anniversary of our declaration of independence, "Tidbits" will be showcasing some patriotic submarine photos. USS LAGARTO (SS-371) was lost with all hands on 3 May 1945, in the midst of her second war [...]

As we prepare to celebrate the 238th anniversary of our declaration of independence, "Tidbits" will be showcasing some patriotic submarine photos. Today's photo was taken in Norfolk, VA, on 8 October 2010. In it, Commander J. Carl Hartsfield navigates from the [...]

For the next few days, as we prepare to celebrate the 238th anniversary of our declaration of independence, "Tidbits" will be showcasing some patriotic submarine photos. In today's, HTFN (DV) John Davis (left) and OS3 (DV) Nathaniel Young, from the [...]

The keel of USS GROTON (SSN-694) was laid down at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, CT, on 3 August 1973. The bow of each new submarine is covered with a custom-designed nose cone when she is launched, so as [...]