Allied Warships

Requin (SS-481)

Submarine of the Tench class

NavyThe US Navy
TypeSubmarine
ClassTench 
Pennant481 
Built byPortsmouth Navy Yard (Kittery, Maine, U.S.A.) 
Ordered 
Laid down24 Aug 1944 
Launched1 Jan 1945 
Commissioned28 Apr 1945 
End service3 Dec 1968 
History

USS Requin was on her way to the western Pacific under the command of submarine ace Commander Slade Deville Cutter when World War II ended. Like most of her Tench-class sisters, Requin did not spend the Cold War in mothballs. Instead, she returned to the shipyard for conversion to a radar picket submarine under Project Migraine. Requin and her sister radar picket subs provided surface battle groups with early warning of enemy air attacks, helped direct friendly air strikes, and provided mid-course guidance for submarine-launched Regulus missiles. In her new role as a submersible radar and control center, Requin's after compartment was filled with state of the art radars, communications gear, and control equipment. When smaller, lighter, and far more capable airborne radars made the Migraine boats obsolete, Requin returned to the role of attack submarine as a fleet snorkel conversion. The radars were removed from the after compartment but her aft torpedo tubes were not replaced. Instead, the compartment became a large berthing space.

In the 1960s, Requin participated in joint ASW exercises with many South American navies and was also deployed to the Mediterranean. Requin was decommissioned on 3 December 1968 and stricken on 20 December 1971.

Requin is one of only two surviving Tench class submarines. The other is USS Torsk (SS-423) in Baltimore. She is also the only remaining submarine to have undergone the Migraine conversion. Requin conducts youth group overnight encampments.

 

Commands listed for USS Requin (481)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1T/Cdr. Slade Deville Cutter, USN28 Apr 1945

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Notable events involving Requin include:


3 Jun 1945
USS Requin (Cdr. S.D. Cutter, USN) arrived at Newport, Rhode Island from Portsmouth New Hampshire for torpedo trials.

6 Jun 1945
With her torpedo trials completed, USS Requin (Cdr. S.D. Cutter, USN), arrived at New London, Connecticut.

20 Jun 1945
USS Requin (Cdr. S.D. Cutter, USN) departed New London, Connecticut for the Panama Canal Zone.

29 Jun 1945
USS Requin (Cdr. S.D. Cutter, USN) arrived in the Panama Canal Zone from New London, Connecticut.

17 Jul 1945
USS Requin (Cdr. S.D. Cutter, USN) departed the Panama Canal Zone for Pearl Harbour.

30 Jul 1945
USS Requin (Cdr. S.D. Cutter, USN) arrived at Pearl Harbour from the Panama Canal Zone.

Media links


U. S. Submarines in World War II

Kimmett, Larry and Regis, Margaret


U.S. Submarines Through 1945

Friedman, Norman


amazon.co.uk
(£ 56.95)

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