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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Torsk (SS-423, later AGSS-423 and IXSS-423), 1944-1972

USS Torsk, a 1570-ton Tench class submarine, was built at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine. She was commissioned in December 1944, operated along the U.S. east coast into February 1945, then transited the Panama Canal to the Pacific. Torsk made two war patrols in April-August 1945, sinking a small freighter and two anti-submarine escorts in mid-August, the last enemy ships sunk during World War II. Shortly after the Japanese surrender, she returned to the Atlantic, where she spent the rest of her long service.

During the late 1940s and early 1950s, Torsk mainly served as a training submarine based at New London, Connecticut. She deployed to the Mediterranean in 1950 and the Caribbean in 1951, then underwent conversion to "fleet snorkel" configuration. Thus modernized, Torsk renewed her pattern of operations in the Western Atlantic and Caribbean, with occasional cruises to European waters. She visited the Great Lakes in 1959 and took part in the Cuban Missile Crisis blockade in 1962. In the mid-1960s, she became a training submarine for Naval Reserves and was redesignated AGSS-423 in May 1968 and IXSS-423 in June 1971. USS Torsk was turned over to the State of Maryland in September 1972. Moored at Baltimore, she serves as a memorial and museum to this day.

This page features selected views of USS Torsk.

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: 80-G-304559 USS Torsk (SS-423) Underway off the U.S. east coast, while en route from New England to Florida, 12 February 1945. Photographed from a blimp of squadron ZP-24. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 141KB; 740 x 590 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.
Photo #: 80-G-313790 USS Torsk (SS-423) Underway off the U.S. east coast, while en route from New England to Florida, 16 February 1945. Photographed from a NAS Richmond, Florida, aircraft. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 159KB; 740 x 600 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.
Photo #: 80-G-704269 Six U.S. Navy Submarines Maneuvering in line abreast formation during exercises off Block Island, Rhode Island, in April 1947. Nearest submarine is USS Sarda (SS-488). USS Torsk (SS-423) is next. Both are fitted with 5"/25 deck guns fore and aft. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 92KB; 740 x 590 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.
Photo #: USN 1079481 USS Torsk (SS-423) Underway in May 1952, shortly after her "fleet snorkel" conversion. She is still fitted with a 5"/25 deck gun, aft of her "sail". Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 575 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-N-1079481.
Photo #: 80-G-669954 USS Torsk (SS-423) Underway on 30 July 1954. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 78KB; 740 x 570 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.
Photo #: USN 1115115 USS Torsk (SS-423) Underway in Hampton Roads, Virginia, 15 January 1965. Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Online Image: 130KB; 740 x 590 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-N-1115115.
Photo #: USN 1112857 USS Torsk (SS-423) Departing the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, 16 August 1965. Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 600 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-N-1112857.
Photo #: KN-14050 USS Torsk (SS-423) In Hampton Roads, Virginia, 28 September 1965. Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Online Image: 125KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-KN-14050. Though reproductions of this photo from the Naval Historical Center's collections are available in black & white only, those from the National Archives should be available in color.
Photo #: NH 65258-KN (Color) Insignia: USS Torsk (SS-423) This emblem was designed for Torsk during World War II. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 86KB; 650 x 675 pixels

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10 May 2000