Submarines Don't (didn't) Fight One Another
I remember the Blueback from sub pier at San Diego in the late '70s. Diesel boat with a teardrop hull. Not sure which was the last combat capable diesel boat to be decommisioned. The Dolphin was a deep diving R & D boat. Pretty sure she was last diesel boat decommissioned, but Dolphin was always an experimental boat and never put on the line.
My favourite diesel boat was the Gudgeon. She was like an old car that just keeps running as long as she is maintained. And her crew did a great job of keeping the old girl going. Gudgeon was one of the boats built in the early '50s using a great deal of what was learned from the highly advanced Type XXI U-boats surrendered at wars end. Even her shape reminded me of a U-boat and the hair on my neck would stand on end every time I saw her.
Gudgeon served our Navy from '52 till '83 when she was transferred to the Turkish Navy, who were our allies in those days. She was renamed by the Turks and served them until 2004 when she was decommissioned and tied up at the Turkish Naval Station in Istanbul as a museum ship. 52 years of continuous service in both navies. Gudgeon is the sub directly behind me in the photo I put up on post #8 of this thread.
Here is a photo of Gudgeon. Very strong resemblance to Type XXI U-boat. This is an early photo, likely from the '50s as she has her hull number on side of conning tower. In the '70s, our subs' hull numbers were painted over for security reasons same as during the 2nd World War.
USS Gudgeon......
U-3008 under US flag in 1946 (note shape of hull and bow planes pivoted into superstructure near bow when running on surface)......
Best regards,
Harry
I remember the Blueback from sub pier at San Diego in the late '70s. Diesel boat with a teardrop hull. Not sure which was the last combat capable diesel boat to be decommisioned. The Dolphin was a deep diving R & D boat. Pretty sure she was last diesel boat decommissioned, but Dolphin was always an experimental boat and never put on the line.
My favourite diesel boat was the Gudgeon. She was like an old car that just keeps running as long as she is maintained. And her crew did a great job of keeping the old girl going. Gudgeon was one of the boats built in the early '50s using a great deal of what was learned from the highly advanced Type XXI U-boats surrendered at wars end. Even her shape reminded me of a U-boat and the hair on my neck would stand on end every time I saw her.
Gudgeon served our Navy from '52 till '83 when she was transferred to the Turkish Navy, who were our allies in those days. She was renamed by the Turks and served them until 2004 when she was decommissioned and tied up at the Turkish Naval Station in Istanbul as a museum ship. 52 years of continuous service in both navies. Gudgeon is the sub directly behind me in the photo I put up on post #8 of this thread.
Here is a photo of Gudgeon. Very strong resemblance to Type XXI U-boat. This is an early photo, likely from the '50s as she has her hull number on side of conning tower. In the '70s, our subs' hull numbers were painted over for security reasons same as during the 2nd World War.
USS Gudgeon......
U-3008 under US flag in 1946 (note shape of hull and bow planes pivoted into superstructure near bow when running on surface)......
Best regards,
Harry
