USS Besugo
USS Besugo (SS-321) underway, circa 1950. She has a 5 in (127 mm)/25 caliber deck gun fore and aft her conning tower. Water can be seen draining from her limber holes. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Name | USS Besugo (SS-321) |
| Namesake | Besugo |
| Builder | Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut |
| Laid down | 27 May 1943 |
| Launched | 27 February 1944 |
| Commissioned | 19 June 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 21 March 1958 |
| Recommissioned | 15 June 1965 |
| Decommissioned | 31 March 1966 |
| Stricken | 15 November 1975 |
| Fate |
|
| History | |
| Italy | |
| Name | Francesco Morosini (S 508) |
| Namesake | Francesco Morosini (1619–1694), Doge of Venice (1688–1694) |
| Acquired | 31 March 1966 |
| Decommissioned | 30 November 1973 |
| Stricken | 15 November 1975 |
| Fate | Returned to United States 15 November 1975 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Balao class diesel-electric submarine |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 311 ft 9 in (95.02 m) |
| Beam | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m) |
| Draft | 16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed |
|
| Range | 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h) |
| Endurance |
|
| Test depth | 400 ft (120 m) |
| Complement | 10 officers, 70–71 enlisted |
| Armament |
|
USS Besugo (SS-321, later AGSS-321), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy in commission from 1944 to 1958. She was named for the besugo.
During World War II, Besugo made five war patrols between 26 September 1944 and 25 July 1945, operating in the Bungo Channel, Makassar Strait, Java Sea, and South China Sea. During these patrols, Besugo sank the German submarine U-183, becoming one of a very few U.S. submarines to sink a German naval vessel during the war. She also sank the 10,020-gross register ton tanker Nichei Maru, one landing ship, one frigate, and a minesweeper.
After post-World War II Korean War and Cold War U.S. Navy service, Besugo was decommissioned. She was loaned to the Italian Navy in 1966, in which she served until 1973 as Francesco Morosini (S 508).