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U.S.S. SPINAX
(SS-489)EVERYONE COMES BACK
Click to view crew list
USS SPINAX (SS-489) - a Tench-class submarine
In Commission 1946 to 1969SS-489 Deployments - Major Events
Add a SS-489 Shellback Initiation | Add a SS-489 Deployment - Major Event | ||||
Month | Year | to | Month | Year | Deployment / Event |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
MAY | 1945 | - | Keel Date: 14 MAY 1945 at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Kittery ME | ||
NOV | 1945 | - | Launch Date: 20 NOV 1945 | ||
SEP | 1946 | - | Commissioned: 20 SEP 1946 | ||
AUG | 1958 | - | Shellback Initiation - 19 AUG 1958 - Pacific Ocean | ||
DEC | 1967 | - | JUN | 1968 | West Pac |
OCT | 1969 | - | Decommissioned: 11 OCT 1969 |
SS-489 General Specifications
Class: Tench-class submarine
Complement: 10 Officers and 71 Enlisted
Displacement: 1570 tons
Length: 311 feet 8 inches
Beam: 27 feet 4 inches
Draft: 17 feet
Range: 11 000 Nautical Miles
Final Disposition: Sold for scrap 13 June 1972
USS SPINAX (SS-489)
Spinax (SS-489) was laid down on 14 May
1945 by the Portsmouth (N.H.) Navy Yard; launched on 25 November
1945; sponsored by Mrs. Tom C. Clark; and commissioned on 20 September
1946, Comdr. A. R. Faust in command.
Spinax moved to New London, Conn., on
15 November and was assigned to Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet. On 15 December 1946,
she sailed for the Caribbean to begin her
shakedown cruise which lasted until 28
January 1947. She returned to New London and participated in local operations
until November when a fleet exercise took her north of the Arctic Circle near Labrador. In January 1948, designated a radar
picket submarine, her classification was changed from SS to SSR. After conducting operations in the Caribbean during the first part of the year, she returned to
her home yard, Portsmouth (N.H.) Naval
Shipyard, in May for an overhaul
which lasted until the end of October.
In addition to the installation of much radar and communication equipment, the work included the removal of her aft torpedo tubes, demilitarization
of two forward tubes, installation of
a snorkel system, and conversion of the after room into a combat information center. When she emerged from the yard, Spinax possessed the capabilities of a radar picket destroyer.
Spinax deployed to the Mediterranean
from 3 January to 3 March 1949, as the first postwar submarine unit of
the 6th Fleet. Upon her return to New London, she was assigned to Submarine Squadron
(SubRon) 6, based at Norfolk-this was the
first time since World War I that
submarines had been scheduled to operate from that base. She conducted operations along the east coast until again being deployed to the 6th
Fleet from 6 January to 23 May 1950. She returned to Norfolk until 12 June when she was transferred to the
west coast.
The submarine arrived at San Diego on 29 June and proceeded
up the coast to the San Francisco Naval Shipyard for an overhaul. She
made a cruise to Pearl Harbor from 17 August to 16 October 1951 and returned
to San Diego. She became a unit of Submarine Division 53 on 1 January
1952 and resumed her routine duties. Spinax was overhauled at
Mare Island from April through early August and returned to San Diego
on 7 August 1952.
Spinax operated out of that port until
1 November 1954 when she sailed for an extended tour in the Far East.
The submarine operated with the 7th Fleet and then visited the
Philippines, Hong Kong, Formosa, and Japan before returning to San Diego on 7 May 1955. Overhaul at Mare Island from June through October 1956 was followed by refresher training in the San
Diego area. She was deployed to the
western Pacific from 4 January to 1
July 1957 and again from 3 July to
16 December 1958.
Emphasis in antisubmarine warfare resulted in Spinax's being
converted to a fleet snorkel submarine. This was accomplished at Mare
Island from 13 April to 11 September 1959. All radar except search and
fire control were removed; the communication facility was reduced
to that of a regular submarine; and the combat information center was
converted into living quarters. The ship received improved sonar and fire control equipment, and modifications were made to her hull. On 15 August, she resumed the designation SS-489. When the conversion was completed, the
submarine conducted refresher
training and local operations until
early 1960.
Spinax departed San Diego on 3 May
1960 for a tour in the western Pacific with the 7th Fleet which lasted
until 3 November when she returned to her home port. Thereafter, except
for four deployments in the Far East, her west coast operations were interrupted
only by yard overhauls. Spinax was deployed from 27 June to 17 December
1962; from 18 August 1965 to 15 March 1966; from 6 January to 25 June 1967;
and from February to 13 August 1969 when she last returned to Mare
Island.
In September 1969, Spinax was declared unfit for
further Naval service. She was decommissioned and struck
from the Navy list on 11 October 1969. Her hulk was sold to Zidell
Explorations, Inc., on 13 June 1972 and scrapped.
[Note: The above USS SPINAX (SS-489) history may, or may not, contain text provided by crew members of the USS SPINAX (SS-489), or by other non-crew members, and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]