USS Rock
USS Rock underway, ca. the 1960s.
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History | |
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United States | |
Builder | Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin[1] |
Laid down | 23 December 1942[1] |
Launched | 20 June 1943[1] |
Sponsored by | Mrs. B. O. Wells |
Commissioned | 26 October 1943[1] |
Decommissioned | 1 May 1946[1] |
Recommissioned | 12 October 1953[1] |
Decommissioned | 13 September 1969[1] |
Stricken | 13 September 1969[1] |
Fate | Sold for scrap, 17 August 1972[1] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | |
Displacement | |
Length | 311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[3] |
Beam | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[3] |
Draft | 17 ft 0 in (5.18 m) maximum[3] |
Propulsion |
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Speed | |
Range | 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[2] |
Endurance |
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Test depth | 300 ft (90 m)[2] |
Complement | 6 officers, 54 enlisted[2] |
Armament |
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USS Rock (SS/SSR/AGSS-274), a
Construction and commissioning
Rock was
Service history
World War II
After a month of intensive training in
First and second war patrols, February–May 1944
On 29 February 1944, Rock contacted a large enemy convoy en route to Truk. Detected by destroyer Asashimo while making a night surface approach on the convoy, she fired a spread of four torpedoes from her stern tubes at the closing enemy destroyer without scoring. Then illuminated by the destroyer's searchlight, and under fire from the surface ship's 5-inch (130 mm) guns, she dived. For 4 hours she underwent depth charge attacks, but survived. That night she surfaced and found that her periscopes were excessively damaged and that her bridge had been riddled with shrapnel. The damage necessitated a return to Pearl Harbor for repairs. Later that night, the busy Asashimo sank Trout.
Rock began her second war patrol on 4 April 1944, destination
Third war patrol, June–August 1944
Rock, in company with
Two days later Rock contacted another enemy convoy consisting of six large ships and four escorts. She launched four torpedoes, two of which seemed to hit but, again Rock was forced down by depth charges and unable to assess damage to her targets. During the remainder of her time on station, Rock weathered a severe typhoon and witnessed the sinking of Japanese submarine I-29 by Sawfish. On 27 July she headed toward Pearl Harbor.
Fourth war patrol, September–November 1944
Rock departed Pearl Harbor on 9 September 1944, en route for the
Fifth and sixth war patrols, December 1944–May 1945
On 14 December 1944, Rock departed Fremantle on her fifth patrol. On 12 January 1945, the U.S. Navy destroyer USS English (DD-696) mistook her for a Japanese sailboat while Rock was on the surface in the South China Sea off Japanese-occupied French Indochina and opened gunfire on her at a range of 9,200 yards (8,400 m).[7] Rock crash-dived to 300 feet (91 m) and sustained no damage.[7] The only other event of note during the 64-day patrol was the rescue of a downed pilot from USS Lexington (CV-16).
At the start of her sixth patrol, which lasted from 7 March to 4 May 1945, she picked up 15 merchant seamen from the SS Peter Silvester, adrift in a life raft for 32 days, and landed them at Exmouth. Continuing northward the next day, Rock was bombed by an aircraft and that night she was struck by a dud torpedo. Neither attack caused any critical damage. In a night attack on 27 March, Rock fired on an enemy destroyer escort without success. On 18 April she joined Tigrone in bombarding Batan Island to leave the Japanese radio station in ruins. Rock then turned toward Saipan to complete a 54-day patrol.
From the
Post-World War II
1945–1946
Rock participated in
Radar picket submarine (SSR-274), 1953–1959
In early 1951 Rock was towed from New London to the
After a short period of training with
Auxiliary general submarine (AGSS-274), 1959–1969
By 31 December 1959 there no longer existed an operational requirement for a radar picket submarine in the fleet, and on that date the Air Control Center was decommissioned and Rock was redesignated an "auxiliary general submarine," AGSS-274,. Following operations off the U.S. West Coast and another overhaul, Rock again deployed to the western Pacific in November 1961. She made subsequent six-month deployments to the western Pacific in 1963, 1965, 1966–1967, and 1968.
Operating in the eastern Pacific during the first half of 1969, Rock departed San Diego 11 July and conducted operations in support of fleet training in the Hawaiian operating areas until proceeding on 16 August 1959 to the U.S. West Coast.
Decommissioning and disposal
On 13 September 1969, Rock decommissioned at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Struck from the Navy List on the same day, she was designated for use as a target to destruction. She was sold for scrap on 17 August 1972
Awards
- battle stars
- World War II Victory Medal
- China Service Medal
- National Defense Service Medal with star
- Vietnam Service Medal with three battle stars for Vietnam War service[8]
References
Citations
- ^ ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- ^ a b c d e f U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
- ^ ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ^ OCLC 24010356.
- ^ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 p. 261
- ^ a b c U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
- ^ a b Hinman & Campbell, pp. 185–188.
- ^ https://goatlocker.org/resources/nav/1650.pdf “OpNavNote 1650 September 2002, Pg. 388”
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
Bibliography
- Hinman, Charles R., and Douglas E. Campbell. The Submarine Has No Friends: Friendly Fire Incidents Involving U.S. Submarines During World War II. Syneca Research Group, Inc., 2019. ISBN 978-0-359-76906-3.
External links
- Photo gallery of Rock at NavSource Naval History