USS Finback (SS-230)

Launch of USS Finback
History
United States
BuilderPortsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
Laid down5 February 1941
Launched25 August 1941
Sponsored byMrs. A. E Watson
Commissioned31 January 1942
Decommissioned21 April 1950
Stricken1 September 1958
Honors &
awards
13 × battle stars
FateSold for scrap, 15 July 1959
General characteristics
Class & typeGato-class diesel-electric submarine
Displacement
  • 1,525 long tons (1,549 t) surfaced
  • 2,424 long tons (2,463 t) submerged
Length311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)
Beam27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)
Draft17 ft (5.2 m) maximum
Propulsion
Speed
  • 21 knots (39 km/h) surfaced
  • 9 kn (17 km/h) submerged
Range11,000 nmi (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 kn (19 km/h)
Endurance
  • 48 hours at 2 kn (4 km/h) submerged
  • 75 days on patrol
Test depth300 ft (90 m)
Complement6 officers, 54 enlisted
Armament

USS Finback (SS-230), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the finback. Nine of Finback's twelve World War II patrols in the Pacific were designated as "successful"; she received 13 battle stars for her service and is credited with having sunk nearly 70 thousand tons of enemy shipping.